Kabul:
Afghan President Hamid Karzai says he has suspended talks with the US on a new security deal to protest the way the Americans are reaching out to the Taliban in efforts to find a political solution to the war.
Karzai says he has suspended negotiations with the US on what troops will remain in the country after 2014.
He says he did this "in view of the contradiction between acts and the statements made by the United States of America in regard to the peace process."
The Afghan president's statement was released by his office on Wednesday.
Karzai has said he wants one-on-one talks with the Taliban but the Taliban and US announced they would begin talks together first, before the Afghan government was brought in.