Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Qatar on Friday to begin “historic” peace negotiations between the U.S.-backed Afghanistan government and the Taliban, one day after the release of six high-value Taliban prisoners.

The release of the prisoners — they had been accused of involvement in killing American, French and Australian citizens — came as a condition to be met with Afghanistan's government before talks could proceed. The Trump administration pushed for the release of the Taliban prisoners, despite opposition from France and Australia.

"I know that none of us are happy about the release of prisoners that committed violence against forces but we want to keep the big picture in mind," said Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. negotiator on Afghanistan.

The “big picture” is to end the over 18-year war in Afghanistan and ensure that the country "never again becomes a threat to any of us,” Khalilzad said.

The Trump administration had long pushed for negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government, which could enable a U.S. withdrawal from its longest war and allow the president to fulfill a key foreign policy objective ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

The announcement of the talks set to begin in the coming days comes after six months of delays, due in part to increased violence and political instability.

“It’s taken us longer than I wish that it had to get from Feb. 29 to here but we expect Saturday morning ... to have the Afghans sitting at the table together prepared to have what will be contentious discussions about how to move their country forward,” Pompeo told reporters.

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