The US peace envoy Khalilzad visited Oslo, Norway on July  25-27 and met with Foreign Minister Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide and discussed the Afghan peace processes, said the US Embassy in Norway in a statement. 

During the meeting, Khalilzad discussed "the current impediments to the start of intra-Afghan negotiations and how all sides are working to resolve them," the statement said. 

Norway's foreign minister and Khalilzad also talked about “all key issues affecting the Afghan peace process especially the critical importance of having the full inclusion of women in intra-Afghan negotiations and to achieve a sustainable peace,” it added. 

Khalilzad latest trip to push for intra-Afghan talks 

Khalilzad is traveling to press for intra-Afghan talks, the US State Department said on Saturday, and he plans to visit five nations. 

Khalilzad departed on July 24 for Kabul, Afghanistan; Sofia, Bulgaria; Oslo, Norway; Islamabad, Pakistan; and Doha, Qatar, the US State Department said. 

In Doha and Kabul, Khalilzad will press for resolution of the remaining issues ahead of intra-Afghan negotiations, specifically final prisoner exchanges and reduced violence, according to the statement. 

In Islamabad, he will seek Pakistani support in the effort to advance intra-Afghan negotiations. 
In Sofia--as in Oslo--Ambassador Khalilzad will update NATO Allies on the Afghan peace process, it said. 

Also, Khalilzad, while speaking recently at a virtual event organized by the US Institute of Peace, said that the intra-Afghan talks have "never been so close." 

He was joined by the Afghan ambassador to the US, Roya Rahmani, Uzbekistan’s ambassador to the US, Javlon Vakhabov, and Kazakhstan's ambassador to the US, Erzhan Kazykhanov. 

Khalilzad said: “This is an important moment for Afghanistan and for the region--perhaps a defining moment.”