CIA Director William Burns held a secret meeting with the head of the Taliban political office, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul, the Washington Post reported, citing US officials.

The meeting reportedly took place on Monday. This is the first dialogue of this level between a high-ranking official of the American administration and one of the leaders of the Taliban. Along with this, the publication speaks of the ironic shade of the situation, since it was Baradar who was detained by the CIA and Pakistani agents 11 years ago, after which he spent eight years in prison. Subsequently, Baradar was engaged in negotiations with the United States in Qatar.

The newspaper believes that the parties discussed the approach of August 31 - the date when the United States should complete the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and the evacuation of citizens and helping Afghans.

The CIA declined to comment on the publication's information.