After two days in Moscow, the Taliban and Afghan leaders Wednesday have set a charted plan to end the war in Afghanistan that has been raging on for its 18th year. The plan is structured around the termination of the United States from the country and the Taliban’s fight for citizen’s rights. The meeting was held at the President Hotel and signified the first public contract between the two parties; however, one crucial absence was conspicuous during the event: the government of Ashraf Ghani, President of Afghanistan. According to the New York Times, “Officials close to Mr. Ghani’s administration have said such meetings undermine the fragile Afghan state.”

A spokesman for President Ghani stated that respect goes out to the politicians involved and the perspectives of the process; be that as it may, ” the ownership and the leadership of the peace process is the authority of the Afghan government.”

The final statement, released Wednesday, possessed no plans of an American withdrawal. Instead, included nine points that dealt with a sturdy central government, while also dealing with the rights of citizens, especially women. The consultations occur just six weeks after Taliban and American diplomats declared advanced progress during negotiations set at the Taliban’s prime location of Doha, Qatar.

Taliban sources have mentioned an agreement consenting the withdrawal of about 7,000 American troops in Afghanistan after the deliberations in Doha. Abdul Salam Hanafi, deputy head of the of the Taliban delegations, claimed that the Americans would withdraw before the month of April; however, his claim was denied by both the U.S Embassy and also by military command: ““Our mission hasn’t changed. We have no orders to withdraw,” stated Col. Dave Butler, a spokesman for the American military in Afghanistan, who said that the “timeline” mentioned was simply an idea.

President Trump has continuously mentioned his aspirations involving the termination of the United State’s involvement in the Middle East. “Great nations do not fight endless wars,” the current POTUS expressed in his State of the Union Address Tuesday. Mr.Trump also explains that the peace talks and withdrawal is part of a “join process” in order to “reduce…troop presence” and “focus on counterterrorism.” Nonetheless, many Afghans worry about the possibility of callous fighting between the country if the United States plans on making an abrupt exit. According to  Wahidullah Sabawoon, former commander of the mujahadeen, anti-Soviet Islamist fighters, without the American military or foreign troops to ensure security, the country would need time to reassemble. “Don’t stay forever, but don’t rush.”