Will Taliban and Washington negotiations produce results that satisfy both parties?

Mohamed Yosry

Less than three months after the meeting of the UN envoys to Afghanistan in Doha, which it hosted in May, the Qatari capital is returning to host a new round of talks between the Taliban and the United State two years after the Taliban took control of power in the country. This raises questions about the feasibility of those direct meetings between the Taliban and the Americans after all this time and the evaluation of the events that took place during them.

Goal of the talks

Regarding the objectives of those talks, Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi confirmed that during his visit to Doha in the last week of July, he would meet with an American delegation to discuss international sanctions on Afghanistan and the fate of Afghan funds frozen in American banks.

Muttaqi made it clear that he would demand the United States to remove senior officials and leaders in the Afghan government from the blacklist that restricts their movement and prevents them from traveling. He touched on evaluating the outcomes of the Doha agreement held days before the Taliban came to power and the extent of the United States’ engagement with it, and Muttaqi accused Washington of violating its terms by penetrating Afghan airspace.

The US State Department also announced that a delegation of US diplomats would meet with Taliban leaders in the Qatari capital.

The US delegation included Special Envoy to Afghanistan Thomas West and Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls and Human Rights Rina Amiri. The talks sought to discuss a number of files related to women’s rights, humanitarian work and drug control, as well as focusing on the economic situation in the country.

Previous round

The meeting hosted by Doha was not the first on the situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban came to power in August 2021. Rather, it was preceded by a similar meeting that was closer to assessing the results of the Taliban’s control of power during the last period, especially with regard to a number of issues, on top of which is the file of women’s work and education. The conference was held last May, and the movement hoped to come out of it with a number of gains, on top of which was its partial recognition by the international community, which was hinted at by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed a few days before the meeting was held during statements she made at a meeting at Princeton University on April 17, during which she indicated that there were consultations to take small steps towards a possible initial recognition of the Taliban by setting preconditions.

The meeting held in Doha in May disappointed the Taliban’s hopes of obtaining that initial recognition or reaching any small steps towards that goal, and its results were closer to a statement condemning the actions of the Taliban movement against women. Amina Mohammed declared at the time that her previous statements about recognizing the Taliban had been misunderstood.

What to expect

It is clear from Muttaqi’s statements and the US State Department’s statement that the two sides are moving in opposite directions and there is no hope of reaching a meeting point. The Taliban initially accuses the United States of penetrating Afghan airspace and not adhering to the outcomes of the Doha agreement, calling on the United States to take steps towards removing the Taliban from the blacklist and releasing the frozen Afghan assets in American banks, which amount to $7 billion.

As for the United States, it does not think about these demands in the first place, and it is not on the agenda of the delegation in Doha. Washington is focused on the rights of women and girls, human rights, and efforts to combat drugs, and it also neglects the issue of combating terrorism. Despite the reference to discussing the issue of economic stability, the United States did not disclose about the possibility of searching for solutions to the issue of its frozen financial assets.

With the great divergence of views between the two parties, it is not expected that a solution that satisfies everyone will be reached during the Doha talks.