U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday demanded "demonstrable evidence" from the Taliban that they can and will reduce violence before signing a deal that would lead to Afghanistan peace talks and a withdrawal of American troops from the country.
"What we are demanding now is demonstrable evidence of their will and capacity to reduce violence, to take down the threat, so the inter-Afghan talks ... will have a less violent context," he said. "We're hopeful we can achieve that but we're not there yet, and work certainly remains."