Afghanistan .. Washington is discussing ideas to speed up the settlement in coordination with regional parties and keeps its envoy Khalilzad in Doha to continue consultations.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price renewed his country's approach to urge the Afghan parties to start a path towards a political settlement of the Afghan crisis.

He indicated that Washington is studying a set of ideas to accelerate the settlement process.

The spokesman explained that the US envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad will work from the Qatari capital Doha for some time, noting that the US administration is working with the international community, especially Islamabad and Kabul, and the actors in Doha, in order to progress towards a comprehensive settlement and sustainable peace.

The spokesman pointed out that one of the priorities of the US administration is to engage in effective diplomacy to support reaching a ceasefire.

In a related development, Amarullah Salih, the Afghan First Vice President, said that the leak of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's message to the Afghan presidency, which included Washington's new vision for peace, is an attempt to pressure the Kabul government, stressing its rejection of a reconciliation imposed from outside.

For his part, Mohammed Mohaqiq, the advisor to the Afghan President, considered the message of the US Secretary of State to be patronizing and lacking an understanding of the composition of Afghan society, as he put it.

The head of the Afghan Reconciliation Committee, Abdullah Abdullah, confirmed that Afghanistan is going through a very sensitive phase, pointing out that there are what he described as external pressure to accelerate peace negotiations between the Kabul government and the Taliban.

The American proposal

A few days ago, the US envoy suggested holding an international conference for the Afghan parties, with the participation of the Taliban, in order to form a participatory interim government between Kabul and the Taliban.

Afghan President Muhammad Ashraf Ghani said earlier that the transfer of power will only take place through the ballot box, and that his government is ready to discuss holding elections sponsored by the United Nations.

Ashraf Ghani's statements are the first official comment from Kabul regarding what sources have reported about Zalmay Khalilzad's proposal to form a transitional government in partnership with the Taliban.

A Taliban source told Al-Jazeera that the US envoy to Afghanistan handed the movement a copy of Washington's new vision for peace in the country.

The source added that the movement requested time to respond to the US proposal it received during Khalilzad’s meetings in Doha with representatives of the Taliban’s political bureau.