.jpg)
BRUSSELS (SW): At the foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels, the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said allied countries have been discussing the situation in Afghanistan.
He said NATO will be discussing peace and reconciliation and peace deal offered to the Taliban by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, and the alliance fully supports the ‘unprecedented offer’. Discussions are underway for NATO’s support to Afghanistan until July this year, and will be finalized at the next meeting of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg added.
Referring to the peace talks, the secretary general of NATO said he still believes that the peace offer to the Taliban is a very generous offer and that the Taliban should take the advantage of this opportunity and end the years of war and bloodshed in the country. That this is a great chance for the Taliban to accept it as they won't be able to win on the battlefield, he noted.
In a response to a question regarding the Taliban’s spring operation under the name of 'Khandaq', the secretary general of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg said NATO continues to advise, support, and assist the Afghan National Army and security forces, regardless of all the challenges.
With regards to the upcoming elections in Afghanistan, Jens Stoltenberg said that the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) have the main responsibility to provide security for the upcoming elections, however, NATO forces will play its role in providing security on voting days across the country.
Friday’s ministerial meeting will be the last in the current NATO headquarters, which has housed the Alliance for 50 years. When Allied Defence Ministers gather in June, they will meet in NATO’s new headquarters, which Secretary-General Stoltenberg called “a new home for a modern and forward-looking Alliance”.
ENDS
