TASHKENT, Uzbekistan — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that the Trump administration was moving ahead with peace talks with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan. But to reach a deal, he said, the Taliban must first give “demonstrable evidence of their will and capacity to reduce violence.”

Mr. Pompeo made his remarks in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, where he met with Uzbek leaders who have helped to seek peace in Afghanistan, a bordering nation, and with foreign ministers from four other Central Asian countries. His comments underscored the difficulty that American officials have faced in trying to reach a reduction in conflict in Afghanistan that would allow President Trump to withdraw some or most of the roughly 13,000 troops there.

Mr. Trump called off peace talks with the Taliban last September, but negotiations have restarted since then. Zalmay Khalilzad, the special representative for Afghanistan, arrived in Kabul, the country’s capital, on Saturday to talk with leaders there. He told President Ashraf Ghani that there has been no significant progress in peace talks, according to a statement issued by Mr. Ghani’s office.

On Monday, at a news conference following a meeting between Mr. Pompeo and Abdulaziz Kamilov, the foreign minister of Uzbekistan, Mr. Pompeo was asked whether peace was possible, given Mr. Khalilzad’s remarks to Mr. Ghani on a lack of progress.