Pompeo in highest-level talks with Taliban to break impasse

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo late Monday met Taliban leaders in Qatar in the highest-level talks ever between the two sides as he sought to break an impasse over Afghanistan through shuttle diplomacy. Pompeo flew to Qatar after a surprise visit to Kabul where he aimed to end a poisonous political deadlock that has further riven a country facing Taliban attacks and the coronavirus pandemic.
At Qatar's al-Udeid Air Base, home to US forces, Pompeo went into a closed-door meeting with three Taliban leaders including Mullah Baradar, the Afghan insurgents' formerly imprisoned top negotiator, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said.
The top US diplomat will "press them to comply with the agreement signed last month," Ortagus said. It marked the highest-level meeting ever between the United States and the Taliban, who signed a landmark deal on February 29 that set in motion a US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan that aims to end America's longest war, launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks.