WASHINGTON, 07 December, 2020, (TON): US Chargé d’Affaires Ross Wilson while chatting with reporters, on Sunday, said that the Taliban is expecting the release of thousands of their prisoners under their agreement with the United States, by mid-December.

“The specific provision relating to another 7,000 Taliban prisoners is contained in the US-Taliban agreement,” Wilson said.

“If you do the math, the Taliban expect under the terms of that agreement that there would be progress on releasing those prisoners by roughly mid-December. I have forgotten the exact date. I think it's our view,” he said.

Wilson further insisted that “all of the various parts of the US-Taliban agreement are interlocked with one another, intersect with one another and that you can’t just take out one and say this one has to be adhered to without other aspects being adhered to.”

Wilson said that the US’s “strong interest is in the united consensus among leaders of the Islamic Republic that can help to make tough decisions as these negotiations go forward, give clear direction to the negotiating team in Doha and do it in a way that reflects the national interests as opposed to a narrow political interest, or a narrow ethnic interest or some other narrow set of concerns.”

The move comes after the two consecutive meeting held between Afghan Republic and Taliban about the agenda of negotiations. Although, the details are still to be public yet, both sides are quite optimistic to progress to finalize the agenda of the talks. Earlier, both sides have agreed on the procedural rules for the negotiations that was a breakthrough, breaking deadlock and creating hopes for peace.

Earlier this year, the US and the Taliban agreed on a peace deal to end the 19-year-long conflict in Afghanistan.