WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's talk of a ceasefire in Afghanistan appeared to be a surprise to the Taliban and the Afghan government, according to a Washington Post report.
President Trump's assertion that the Taliban is ready and even keen to see a ceasefire demanded by the United States in the 18-year-old war in Afghanistan could be more of a wish than a reality.
Trump said during a surprise visit to his troops in Afghanistan on the occasion of Thanksgiving that the Taliban "want to conclude an agreement. We meet them and say there must be a ceasefire." "They don't want a ceasefire, but now they want a ceasefire. It's likely to work that way ... We've made a lot of progress."
Neither the Taliban nor the government of President Ashraf Ghani indicated on Friday that a ceasefire was near, or even discussed in the resumed US negotiations.
She said what happened was that as the talks between the United States and the Taliban ended, both sides were preparing to sign a draft agreement calling for a reduction in violence, but she specifically said any ceasefire discussion should be left to follow-up negotiations between the Taliban and the government in Kabul.
"We are ready to talk, but we have the same position to resume the talks from where they left off," the Taliban said in a statement.