The US confirms it is in talks with the Taliban.
Pentagon chief confirms what the Afghan president had said the day before.
With President Barack Obama nearing a decision regarding the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the Pentagon chief said he does not believe the Taliban will seriously engage in talks about ending the fighting while they are under extreme military pressure.
Robert Gates confirmed that the US is holding preliminary talks with the Taliban Islamist militia and that for several weeks, some countries – including the United States – have tried to contact representatives of the militia, but that the talks are still in a preliminary stage.
The confirmation from the United States government came a day after Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that the Americans had begun negotiations with the Taliban. "My view is that genuine reconciliation talks are unlikely to achieve significant progress until at least next winter," said Gates, who will leave office on the 30th.
The secretary further stated that the United States' attempts to make direct contact with the Taliban will not lead to any cooling of the American military campaign against the militia insurgents. "I think the Taliban itself needs to feel under military pressure, and start believing that it cannot win before it is willing to have a serious conversation," Gates said.
The first phase of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan is scheduled to begin next month. The goal is to gradually hand over all security operations to the Afghan government by 2014.