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VOA - World News

KABUL - The U.S. special envoy leading negotiations with the Taliban met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul on Wednesday, officials said, amid a renewed push to reach an accord with the insurgents.

U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Ghani discussed several topics including the need for a ceasefire, Ghani's spokesman Sediq Seddiqi said.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks to journalists after voting near the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sept. 28, 2019.

"The president also expressed his concerns about the continued violence by the Taliban," Seddiqi said.

"The president reiterated that the government and people of Afghanistan want a sustainable peace."

The U.S. State Department said Khalilzad had met with Afghan leaders to discuss "efforts to finalize a deal with the Taliban."

"If an agreement can be reached, the process must soon pivot to intra-Afghan negotiations," a State Department spokesman told AFP, referring to discussions the U.S. wants to see take place between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

Khalilzad has spent more than a year leading a push for a deal with the Taliban that would see the U.S. reduce its military footprint in Afghanistan in return for security guarantees from the insurgents.

While U.S.  officials have kept Ghani apprised of developments, the Afghan president has been cut out of negotiations because the Taliban refuse to recognize his authority.

A U.S.-Taliban deal had been all but signed in early September, but President Donald Trump scuttled the agreement at the last minute, citing concerns about ongoing Taliban violence including a Kabul bombing that killed an American soldier.

Talks resumed Dec. 7 amid a reduction in violence in Kabul but were paused following another Taliban attack, this time at Bagram air base north of Kabul.

Talks appear to have resumed again this week in Doha.