Peace talks with the U.S. have been completed and an agreement is expected to be signed at the end of February, a Taliban leader told local media. Abdul Salam Hanafi, a senior Taliban leader and member of the political commission in Doha, Qatar, said in a video message shared with journalists that after negotiations, “both sides have initiated the final draft of the peace agreement. Now talks are concluded.” “The agreement will be signed in Doha at the end of this month in the presence of the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the European Union and representatives of Afghanistan’s neighboring countries,” said Hanafi. This is the first formal statement released by the Taliban since the United States announced a peace deal with the movement on Friday. Before the agreement is signed, there will be a reduction in violence to create a proper atmosphere for the signing ceremony, he added. Hanafi gave no further details on what a favorable environment would entail. American and Afghan officials also have been tight-lipped regarding details of the violence reduction. In his first public comments since the peace talks breakthrough, U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, the chief negotiator with the Taliban, said he’s “cautiously optimistic.” Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had spoke with the Afghan president and informed him by phone about the progress in peace talks with Taliban “This is a welcoming development, and I am pleased that our principal position on peace thus far has begun to yield fruitful results. Our primary objective is to end the senseless bloodshed,” Ghani tweeted after Pompeo’s phone call. The agreement between the U.S. and Taliban, that was nearly signed in September last year, sets the timetable for the U.S. exit from Afghanistan in exchange for the Taliban safeguards that the country does not become a hotbed for terrorist groups and beginning talks with Ghani’s government. However, U.S. President Donald Trump canceled the proposed peace deal with the insurgents at the last minute over the killing of a U.S. soldier in the Afghan capital Kabul.