WASHINGTON: The United States is still hoping to get peace talks with the Taliban and Afghan officials “back on track,” a US State Department spokesman said on Monday.

There have been some hopeful signs for the talks, Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell told reporters, adding that “we want to see if we can get it back on track.”

Still, a new date for discussions has not yet been set and US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, James Dobbins, has not met with Taliban representatives, Ventrell added.

The comments come as US official continue to press the Taliban to revive the peace effort, which was set to begin last with preliminary discussion but was stalled amid objections from the Afghan government.

The main goal is to get Afghans talking to other Afghans, although the US had been open to meeting with the Taliban, Ventrell said.

“We're still open to having that meeting,” he told reporters, adding that Afghan and Taliban representatives could met first if they wanted.

On Saturday, US Secretary of State John Kerry called on the Taliban to revive the effort to end Afghanistan's 12-year-old war.

The fundamentalist Islamic group was pushed out of power in Afghanistan by the US invasion that followed the al Qaeda attacks on US targets on Sept. 11, 2001. It has since led an insurgency to overthrow the Afghan government and oust foreign troops.