The United States and Qatar have agreed that Qatar will represent the diplomatic interests of the United States in Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced, an important signal of potential direct engagement between Washington and Kabul in the future after two decades of war, Reuters reports.
Qatar signed an arrangement on Friday (November 12) assuming the role of "protecting power" for U.S. interests to help facilitate any formal communication between Washington and the Taliban government in Afghanistan, which the United States does not recognize.
The move comes at a time when the United States and other Western countries are grappling with how to engage with the Taliban after the hardline group took over Afghanistan in a lightning advance in August as U.S.-led forces were withdrawing after two decades of war.
According to the arrangement, which will come into effect on Dec. 31, Qatar will dedicate certain staff from its embassy in Afghanistan to a U.S. Interests Section and will coordinate closely with U.S. State Department and with U.S. mission in Doha.
Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said his country's first priority was to ensure that humanitarian aid arrived safely in the hands of the needy.
"The first priority to be addressed with the Taliban is to provide safe access for humanitarian assistance and ensuring that goes to the right people and not falling into the wrong hands. The second thing, we believe that abandoning Afghanistan will be a big mistake, and ignoring it, because isolation has never been an answer or a solution for any issue. Engagement is the only way forward," he said.
At the wide-ranging press conference, Blinken said the U.S. is concerned about Russia's actions along the Ukraine border, warning "it would be a serious mistake" for Putin to repeat the actions of 2014, when Russia invaded Crimea. Blinken also said the U.S. is very concerned by efforts by Belaruus to use migration as a political weapon and is looking at various tools for dealing with the Aleksandr Lukashenko government.
The U.S. Secretary of State expressed support for efforts by former Nigerian President (Olusegun) Obasanjo to negotiate peace talks between the Ethiopian government and other factions.
