Bogota, August 3 (RHC)-- The U.S. and Colombia have held talks relating to ending the armed conflict in the country and signing a landmark peace agreement with the FARC, with officials pledging to make Colombia landmine-free.

During a press conference in Washington following talks between delegations from the U.S. and Colombia, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that his government hoped Colombia would be free of landmines within the next five years.

“Unfortunately, Colombia is the second most mined country on the planet,” Colombian Foreign Minister María Ángela Holguín noted. She further expressed her government’s appreciation for an international demining effort in Colombia, led by the U.S. and Norway, which was announced in February with US$30 million in funding. “This has been an impulse for other countries, 24 of whom are now supporting us.”

In February, U.S. President Barack Obama asked the U.S. Congress for more than $450 million as part of the plan Peace Colombia, a new phase in assisting the country after 15 years of the pro-militarization Plan Colombia. Included in the plan is $30 million for mine clearance.