Taliban officials and U.S. representatives started a two-day meeting in the Qatari capital Doha on Saturday, the first in-person talks since U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan in August.

The Afghan delegation's focus at the meeting was "humanitarian aid and implementing Doha agreement," said Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting foreign minister of the newly-formed administration in Afghanistan, adding that Washington would offer Afghans coronavirus vaccines.

The two sides signed a peace agreement in 2020 in Doha in a bid to end a long-running war in Afghanistan.

According to Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Afghan delegation will meet with EU representatives following the talks with the U.S.

The U.S. has remained in contact with the Taliban since the group seized Kabul in August as U.S. troops pulled out, but the meeting is the first that is face to face.

The U.S. State Department said on Friday that the talks were a "continuation of the pragmatic engagements with the Taliban on issues of U.S. vital national interest," noting it is "not about granting recognition or conferring legitimacy."