KABUL, Afghanistan — Representatives from the Taliban, the United States and several Asian countries gathered in the United Arab Emirates on Monday for what officials cautiously described as important meetings that could lead to formal talks to end the 17-year war in Afghanistan.

The optimism fostered by months of urgent American diplomacy was dampened by the Taliban’s apparent refusal to meet with a delegation of the Afghan government, although Afghan officials said late Monday that they had not given up hope that the two sides would talk.

The Taliban said in a statement on Sunday that they would meet representatives of the United States as well as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates. Those countries, American allies that have varying levels of influence over the Taliban, have been at the center of a Trump administration push to help shape the peace process.

The Taliban said nothing on Sunday about meeting with the Afghan delegation, even though government negotiators also arrived for the talks, said Mujib Rahman Rahimi, a spokesman for the Afghan government.