(CNN) The US is sending negotiators to the Middle East to restart peace negotiations with the Taliban for the first time in the Biden administration, the State Department announced Sunday. Khalilzad was the US top negotiator with the Taliban during the Trump administration, and CNN previously reported the Biden administration kept him on board to, in part, demonstrate the Biden administration's fidelity to the Doha agreement that was signed by the US and the Taliban last year, which Khalilzad helped negotiate. If the conditions of the deal were met, US forces would leave Afghanistan by May 2021, according to the agreement. "The Taliban have not met their commitments," Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said at a news briefing. The early foreign policy obstacle for the Biden administration had been previewed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who described Afghanistan as "a real challenge" in his confirmation hearing last month.

Source: The Nation March 01, 2021 03:56 UTC