In order to discuss measures to unfreeze roughly $3.5 billion in central bank deposits as the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan worsens, an AUS delegation met with senior Taliban officials in Uzbekistan.
According to a readout from the Department of State on Thursday, the US delegation informed the militant group and technocrats that work to unlock the reserves needed to be sped up and repeated that the money should be used to assist the Afghan people.
The US side was led by Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson and Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West.
The two parties will meet for the most recent round of negotiations as Biden works to create a system that would permit the Afghan government to use its central bank reserves while restricting Taliban access to the money.
A delegation from the Taliban headed by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met with US representatives in Qatar last month to discuss the release of approximately $9 billion in blocked Afghan cash.
Nearly a year after assuming power in the wake of the US withdrawal, the militant group is still battling to restore the sanctions-damaged economy. More than 40% of Afghanistan's GDP in foreign aid has been lost, and the UN has repeatedly pleaded for assistance, claiming that millions of Afghans are suffering from severe starvation.
Last month, the US Agency for International Development said that it would give Afghanistan up to $55 million in aid to assist those impacted by a massive earthquake that left around 1,000 people dead in the South Asian country.
This year, President Joe Biden issued an executive order to allow the use of some DAB Afghanistan Bank assets located in the United States for the benefit of the Afghan people. The ruling enjoins local financial institutions to transfer any DAB assets they may have in their possession currently located in the US into a consolidated account housed at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
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