Delegates of Moscow meeting have assigned a committee to work on a joint statement of their meetings with the Taliban, Fawzia Kofi, one of the delegates said on Thursday. 

One of the differences on Wednesday’s meeting was the discussions on ceasefire and despite repeated request, the Taliban has not agreed on this, Koofi said. 

This comes as a group of Afghan politicians led by former President Hamid Karzai and a 14-member Taliban team led by the co-founder of the group Abdul Ghani Baradar sat for the second day in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss the Afghan peace, but behind the closed doors.  

The group rejected the calls for a ceasefire which was the main demand by Afghan politicians – who publicly raised the demand at a ceremony in Moscow on the centenary of Afghanistan-Russia diplomatic ties on Tuesday, May 28.

Sources said the second day of the meeting was also focused on peace and pressuring the Taliban to agree on a ceasefire with the Taliban – at least in the upcoming Eid al-Fitr.    

Backing their deputy leader’s stance, a Taliban spokesman told reporters on Wednesday that ceasefire is not possible in presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan – who are helping the Afghan forces in their fight against the Taliban and other insurgent groups since 2001.   

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, a senior member of the Taliban who has led six rounds of talks with US negotiators, said they hope to reach an agreement on US forces withdrawal from Afghanistan in the next round of the talks – probably next month.

According to him, the US and Taliban negotiators could not reach an agreement on troop withdrawal in their sixth round of talks in April.  

A number of Moscow meeting delegates said they hope that the next meeting between Afghans will be held in Doha next month.