BRUSSELS (SW): The NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, has said around 3,000 more trainers have been added to the Resolute Support (RS) mission in Afghanistan.
He said this before this week’s meeting of NATO Defence Ministers – the first in the Alliance’s new headquarters – at a press conference on Wednesday (6 June 2018). He added discussions are underway to extend funding for the Afghan forces beyond 2020. Praising the Afghan forces for their performance, Mr. Stoltenberg concluded: “we must continue to assist them; to support President Ghani’s bold initiative for peace; and to encourage continued reforms to fight corruption and uphold human rights.”
The NATO Secretary General said if the Taliban reject the peace offer, the alliance would further strengthen the Afghan government and security forces to send a message to the Taliban that war is not the solution, but peace talks and political process are the only solutions.
On the second day, the NATO defence ministers are expected to take a series of decisions on the NATO Command Structure and military readiness, discuss plans for a NATO training mission in Iraq, and review progress in achieving more defence spending and better burden sharing. They will also discuss NATO-EU cooperation, and hold a meeting on the Resolute Support training mission in Afghanistan.
ENDS
