( CNN ) -- Support from the United States , Pakistan and other Afghan allies is crucial to the success of reconciliation talks with the Taliban , Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in an interview with CNN 's Fareed Zakaria that aired Sunday . `` The High Council for Peace is authorized by the Afghan people to talk with the Taliban , '' Karzai said . `` These are initial contacts being made , but these contacts would not yield results , would not give us the results that we seek , unless and until the United States and Pakistan , especially , with our other allies , back it with practical application of the means that they have in their disposal . '' Last week , outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said , `` there 's been outreach ( to the Taliban ) on the part of a number of countries , including the United States . I would say that these contacts are very preliminary . '' `` My own view is that real reconciliation talks are not likely to be able to make any substantive headway until at least this winter , '' Gates said . Among the conditions required by the United States of the Taliban : complete disassociation from al Qaeda and `` meeting the redlines that President Karzai and the coalition have laid down . '' Karzai said earlier this month that `` peace negotiations with the Taliban and with other countrymen have been started . Those who accept the constitution , freedom , democracy and development of Afghanistan can take part in this negotiation . '' `` The Afghan people need peace , '' Karzai said in the CNN interview . `` The Afghan people want peace . They want their children sent to school . Mothers want to be without worry when they have their children go to school or their husbands to ( a ) job , or when the women go out to work . This country needs to live like all other nations live . '' `` ... We must reach this human desire through a reasonable means , through a realistic approach , '' he said . `` And that is dialogue with a condition that the gains of Afghanistan over the past 10 years not be compromised , that the gains of our women not be compromised , that our children must continue to go to school , that our constitution be respected and recognized . And that having fulfilled that , that the Taliban , who agree to this -- and the absolute majority of them agree to this -- will return to their homes in dignity . '' Karzai also said he welcomes U.S. President Barack Obama 's plans for a drawdown of American troops , calling it a sign that Afghanistan is ready to take control of security in the war-torn nation . `` The number of troops that he has announced to be withdrawn is a sign that Afghanistan is taking over its own security and is trying to defend it territory by its own means , '' Karzai said . `` So we are happy about the announcement . '' As the United States pulls back , Karzai painted a picture of a more stable Afghanistan , despite the fact that May was the bloodiest month for Afghan civilians since 2007 . Karzai , who spoke to Zakaria earlier this week , said Afghans were ready to take the reins of their own country . `` It is the responsibility of the Afghan people to protect their country and to provide security for the citizens of the country , '' Karzai said . `` If you fail in fulfilling our most important responsibility with regard to our country and our people , then somebody else should take over . '' Obama announced Wednesday night that 10,000 U.S. troops would leave Afghanistan this year and all 33,000 forces , sent as part of a 2009 surge , would return home by the summer of 2012 . Karzai also defended his public criticisms of NATO , which in recent weeks have taken on a more angry tone . Karzai blasted the alliance for civilian deaths and nighttime raids . He said his comment on NATO becoming an `` occupying force '' was taken out of context . `` No I do n't regret having made that comment , '' he said . `` That comment was not seen in the full sentence that I spoke . It was after the incident of civilian casualties in Afghanistan where children were killed in an aerial bombing , where I said , 'No more of such aerial bombings on our residents . ' `` The question was what if they continue ? '' Karzai said . `` When Afghanistan asks that these operations cease and even then , if they continue , this means we are not in charge of our country , '' he said . `` And that , of course , becomes an occupation . It was in this context that I spoke , and I stand by that . '' `` My statements are neither hostile nor inflammatory nor designed to get anything but an understanding from our partners that the Afghan people need to feel secure , they need to see this war take a direction in which they can see the end of the tunnel , '' Karzai said . He said Afghanistan , dependent on U.S. dollars for security and development , was grateful to American taxpayers but expressed dismay that U.S. humanitarian efforts have not always taken Afghan wishes into account . He cited a Kandahar electricity project in which he said the United States spent $ 250 million to buy generators . Karzai said Afghanistan would have preferred the construction of a dam , which he called a more lasting solution .
NEW : President Hamid Khan says the United States , Pakistan should support the Taliban . Karzai says Afghanistan is ready to take over security . He defends his criticisms of Taliban leaders .