The United States, Russia, China, and Pakistan have called on all parties in Afghanistan to reduce violence in order to facilitate peace negotiations.

The demand was part of a joint statement after a conference on Afghanistan hosted by Russia in Moscow.

The one-day Afghan Peace Conference was part of an intense diplomatic push to jumpstart a stalled peace process amid a looming deadline for withdrawal of foreign forces from the country.

The statement called on both sides to conclude their peace negotiations and support the formation of “an independent, sovereign, unified, peaceful, democratic, and self-sufficient Afghanistan,” free of terrorism and drugs.

It also called for the protection of the rights of women, children, minorities, and others.