Appearing in a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, in the White House on Friday, September 20, US President Donald Trump said he has called off US-Taliban peace talks for the Taliban militants were reluctant to declare ceasefire.
“No. If they [the Taliban] can’t produce a ceasefire, then why are we bothering?” Trump said.
The US-Taliban peace agreement was about to be finalized, according to the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad.
Quoting “impeccable sources”, Trump said that the Taliban have already admitted they have made a “big mistake.”
“And they thought that it was a sign of strength to kill 12 people, wound others — badly wound some others,” he further said.
In response to strong criticisms recently made against his secret meeting with the Taliban at Camp David, Trump reiterated that he will meet anybody and thinks that meetings are good. “I really believe meetings are good. Worst that happens, it doesn’t work out. That’s okay. Even then, you get to know your opposition,” he continued.
He further went on to say that military pressures on the Taliban militants have been intensified after cancellation of the peace talks with the group.
The remarks come while Trump previously underlined that he had called off the peace talks and cancelled the scheduled meetings with President Ghani of Afghanistan and the Taliban representatives over the dead of a US soldier in a Taliban bombing in Kabul.
