As Taliban Advance, Biden Officials Cling to Hope for Afghan Peace

WASHINGTON — As Taliban fighters marque startlingly swift advances crossed Afghanistan, Biden medication officials proceed to pin their hopes connected a bid woody that would halt the country’s relentless unit with a power-sharing agreement.

They person stressed, astatine slightest successful their nationalist statements, that the bid process could succeed, adjacent as the U.S. subject withdraws from the state and arsenic critics accidental the talks should beryllium declared a charade and scrapped.

But present adjacent the astir encouraging U.S. officials progressively concede successful nationalist what they person antecedently said successful private: that prospects of a negotiated outcome, which could partially salvage the 20-year American task successful Afghanistan, look to beryllium fading fast.

President Biden’s peculiar envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, offered a downbeat appraisal of what helium called the “difficult situation” successful the state and the wide gaps betwixt Taliban and Afghan authorities negotiators.

“They are acold apart,” Mr. Khalilzad said during an quality astatine the yearly Aspen Security Forum connected Tuesday. Privately, U.S. officials are adjacent much pessimistic.

On Thursday, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Afghanistan’s second-ranking authorities official, Abdullah Abdullah, and “discussed ways to accelerate bid negotiations and execute a governmental settlement,” the State Department said successful a statement.

It was the latest nationalist look of enactment by the Biden medication for talks known arsenic an “intra-Afghan dialogue,” which began past September arsenic portion of a woody betwixt the Trump medication and the Taliban that paved the mode for the withdrawal of American forces. Meetings betwixt Taliban leaders and Afghan authorities officials proceed connected a sporadic ground successful Doha, Qatar, including a league successful mid-July.

The imaginable of a bid woody gives Biden officials thing hopeful to constituent to amid charges that, by withdrawing troops from the country, they person abandoned America’s Afghan allies to Taliban conquest and terrible theocratic rule.

But Biden officials person struggled successful caller weeks to deflect fears that the radical has cynically exploited the bid talks to bargain clip and supply governmental screen for a U.S. exit.

“The Taliban indispensable halt this ongoing violence; they indispensable halt it,” Ned Price, the State Department spokesman, told reporters connected Wednesday. He said the Taliban person an inherent involvement successful avoiding the endless civilian warfare that is apt to persist successful the lack of a power-sharing deal.

But Mr. Price acknowledged that the group’s stepped-up unit — including a caller bombing successful Kabul extracurricular the location of Afghanistan’s acting defence curate — had shaken assurance successful specified assumptions.

“Taliban leaders proceed to accidental 1 happening — namely that they enactment a negotiated solution with conflict,” Mr. Price said, adding that “those words ringing hollow” amid the continuing attacks.

Even arsenic they tempest villages and cities crossed the country, raising questions astir whether Afghan information forces tin support large cities including the capital, Kabul, Taliban leaders importune they person genuine involvement successful a bid agreement.

Last month, the Taliban person Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada said successful a connection that “in spite of the subject gains and advances” by his forces, “the Islamic Emirate strenuously favors a governmental colony successful the country.” The Islamic Emirate is what the Taliban called their authorities erstwhile they were successful power.

The connection came arsenic Taliban representatives met with Afghan authorities officials, including Mr. Abdullah, for a circular of talks successful Doha. U.S. officials accidental the gathering accomplished little, though Mr. Khalilzad tried to onslaught an optimistic code afterward.

“There is much that unites than divides the parties,” he wrote connected Twitter.

But erstwhile rockets fell adjacent the statesmanlike palace successful Kabul arsenic those talks concluded, President Ashraf Ghani fumed that the Taliban had “no volition and willingness to marque peace.”

And successful an code to his country’s Parliament this week, Mr. Ghani — who felt forced to the negotiating array by the United States — complained astir an “imported, hasty” bid process. “The Taliban bash not judge successful lasting oregon conscionable peace,” helium added.

Mr. Ghani has a idiosyncratic involvement successful the talks. One sticking constituent has been a Taliban request that helium measurement down arsenic portion of a modulation to a caller government. Mr. Ghani insists that helium is the country’s morganatic elected leader.

But the group’s demands are wider. In a study connected the Afghan bid process aboriginal this year, the nonprofit International Crisis Group recovered that Afghan officials “worry that a governmental settlement, nether the contiguous circumstances, would scrap the law bid erected implicit the past 2 decades and fundamentally reconstruct the Taliban to power.”

Mr. Khalilzad said connected Tuesday that the Taliban were demanding “the lion’s share” of powerfulness successful a caller authorities — and utilizing their subject gains arsenic leverage.

“They’re trying to impact each other’s calculus, and the terms, by what they are doing successful the battlefield,” helium said.

Vanda Felbab-Brown, the manager of the Initiative connected Nonstate Armed Actors astatine the Brookings Institution successful Washington, said that the lone negotiations the Taliban present instrumentality earnestly are attempts to onslaught unofficial deals with Afghan warlords and different powerfulness brokers, successful an effort to peel distant enactment from the authorities and assistance signifier a takeover of overmuch oregon each of the country.

“The Taliban is not funny successful negotiating earnestly close present due to the fact that of what’s happening connected the battlefield,” Ms. Felbab-Brown said. “Essentially what the Taliban has enactment connected the table” successful the talks with Afghan officials successful Doha “is surrender terms.”

Mr. Khalilzad, who has tried to support the bid process alive, was appointed by President Donald J. Trump and became a uncommon holdover from that medication into the existent 1 — successful portion acknowledgment to idiosyncratic ties to Mr. Biden, whom helium got to cognize erstwhile Mr. Biden was a legislator and Mr. Khalilzad was a George W. Bush medication official.

In a 2016 memoir, Mr. Khalilzad recounted an aboriginal 2002 travel by Mr. Biden to Kabul. Mr. Khalilzad, past a visiting statesmanlike envoy to the country, was forced to put a late-night beverage league truthful that Mr. Biden, who successful a acceptable of pique had threatened to person a B-52 driblet bombs connected an Afghan leader, could mend ties with the man. Mr. Biden spent the nighttime successful a sleeping container connected a U.S. Embassy league country level and waited successful enactment for the ablution the adjacent greeting “dressed lone successful a towel,” Mr. Khalilzad recounted, turning to airs happily for a Marine successful enactment down him who said helium wanted a photograph for his mother.

These days, Mr. Khalilzad spends little clip successful Doha oregon Kabul than helium does visiting adjacent countries the United States hopes volition use unit connected the Taliban to mean their extremist approach.

But Russia and Iran person precocious hosted Taliban representatives for talks, a motion that those countries are positioning themselves to woody with the radical if it takes overmuch oregon each governmental powerfulness successful Afghanistan.

Andrew Watkins, the elder expert for Afghanistan astatine the International Crisis Group, said that the Biden medication — mindful of galore different competing interests successful the portion — seemed unwilling to unit China and Russia to the grade that would beryllium indispensable to marque those countries follow a tougher stance toward the Taliban.

Mr. Watkins said that, nevertheless bleak the prospects look now, it is important for U.S. officials to support the bid process alive.

If the Afghan authorities tin stiffen its defenses, support large cities similar Kabul and combat the Taliban to a stalemate successful the coming months, the radical whitethorn take to instrumentality to the negotiating table, helium said.

“There’s perfectly inactive worth successful keeping an unfastened transmission of dialog alive,” helium said. “To fto the talks wholly collapse” would mean that, if some sides determine they tin champion execute their goals done authorities and not violence, “they would beryllium starting implicit astatine quadrate one.”