The US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said on Saturday that “a truce agreement between the United States and the Taliban that could lead to the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan is not without risk but looks very promising.”

“It looks very promising. It’s my view as well that we have to give peace a chance, that the best if not the only way forward in Afghanistan is through a political agreement and that means taking some risk”, he said.

Speaking at Munich Security Conference in Germany, Esper also told reporters “it was time to give peace a chance in Afghanistan through a political negotiation.”

“So we have on the table right now a reduction in violence proposal that was negotiated between our representatives and the Taliban, Esper told an audience at the Munich Security Conference.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani met with chairman and members of the US house of representatives on the sideline of Munich Conference and emphasized that Afghanistan and the United States still face the mid-term and long-term risks of terrorism which requires common fight.

On the issue of peace, Ghani stressed the importance of assessing the risks and challenges in the process, the presidential palace said in a statement.

Arezo News – Humayun Salimi