Washington: The United States has said it has not diluted its stand on peace talks with the Taliban, even as it has established 'preliminary contacts' with the terror outfit.
"Those are firm redlines because without renouncing violence, without accepting the Afghan constitution, and without cutting their ties with al-Qaeda, these Taliban extremists have not rot really renounced extremism. Those are the basics for reconciliation," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
Stating that many countries have had these kinds of contacts with the Taliban, Nuland said the US has had "some preliminary contacts."
"I think the main goal from our perspective is an Afghan-led process of national reconciliation. We have had our feelers and we continue to have very preliminary contacts, but that's as far as it's gone.
"In supporting this Afghan-led process, our goal in working with the Afghans has been to help them establish systems, procedures, that support these three essential redlines - first of all, renouncing violence; second, breaking ties with al-Qaeda; and third, bringing and ensuring that those who are reconciled truly support the constitution," she said.
Nuland said US has a number of programs that support what the Government of Afghanistan was up to, including supporting the Afghan High Peace Council and Provincial Peace and Reintegration Councils.
"We also supported the passage of UN Resolution 1988, which, in the UN on Friday, allows us to take those Afghans who are truly reconciled off of the sanctions list while maintaining those who are not reconciled on the list," she said.
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