Austin Scott Miller, the top US general in Afghanistan, has stepped down as the US military withdrawal from the country nears completion

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General Austin Scott Miller will transfer his command powers to General Kenneth McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, at a ceremony in Kabul, according to a US defense official familiar with the plans.

His transition of command powers was expected and is a major milestone in the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan, and comes days after President Joe Biden announced that a full withdrawal of forces would be completed by the end of August.

Miller, who has been the longest-serving US military commander for nearly two decades of US military involvement in Afghanistan, has repeatedly expressed concern about the pace of Taliban territorial gains and the potential for civil war in the country once the US military campaign is complete.

A senior US administration official told CNN Monday that the Biden administration has also begun working with other countries to determine what the Taliban will get if they engage in a political process in Afghanistan, and the cost they will pay if they don’t.

The effort is part of a new chapter in US diplomatic engagement in Afghanistan, coming after Biden decided to withdraw all US forces in the country. The United States hopes to encourage other countries to invest in the country’s political future.

The US State Department announced over the weekend that the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, will lead the effort, and has planned meetings with other countries in the coming weeks to discuss the matter.

“In his travels, Ambassador Khalilzad will continue to engage in assertive diplomacy and pursue a peace agreement between the Islamic Republic and the Taliban. As part of continued US support for the peace process, he will work with all parties and with regional and international stakeholders to advance consensus around a political settlement,” the State Department announced . “Political consensus on the part of all parties remains urgent.”

The announcement stated that Khalilzad will visit Qatar, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. The senior administration official said he will also meet with officials from Russia, China and European countries.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said last week that Biden had asked Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Khalilzad to “surge” US diplomacy with Afghanistan.

The State Department remains in direct contact with the Taliban, and has not elaborated on what, if anything, might prompt them to sever this dialogue.

Biden acknowledged last week that the Taliban are now at their strongest since 2001, but added that he trusted “the ability of the Afghan army, which is better trained and better equipped” than the Taliban.

“They have the capacity. They have the troops. They have the equipment. The question is: Will they do it?” Biden said of the Afghan government.

CNN’s Kevin Liptak and Chandellis Duster contributed to this report.

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