The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Taliban states that the U.S. Special Envoy for Prisoner Affairs and former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, visited Kabul and held talks with Amir Khan Muttaqi regarding the release of prisoners.

Zia Ahmad Takal, Deputy Spokesperson for the Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced the meeting on Thursday, March 20, via a press release on X/Twitter.

He added that the discussion also covered providing consular services to Afghan nationals in the United States.

Takal quoted Adam Boehler , the U.S. Special Envoy for Prisoner Affairs, who also stated that progress on prisoner issues between the Taliban and the U.S. is a good step toward building “trust.”

He further stated that the U.S. and the Taliban should overcome the consequences of their 20-year war and establish positive political and economic relations with each other.

The U.S. State Department has not yet commented on the matter.

It is important to note that this is the first visit by a U.S. delegation in more than three years since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

This visit comes at a time when recently, Dorothy Shea, the Acting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, emphasized that Washington is distrustful of the Taliban and considers normalizing relations with them to be impossible.

The ongoing dialogue, particularly regarding prisoners and consular services, could serve as a foundation for future engagements. However, the political complexities surrounding the Taliban’s rule and the global diplomatic stance towards them suggest that full normalization may still be far off.