MONITORING (SW) – NATO has deferred their decision on withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan by May 1 later this year.
“We will only leave when the time is right and the focus now is on how we can support the peace talks,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters after the defence ministers’ conference.
Soon after the two-day conference ended on Thursday afternoon, the Pentagon released a report in Washington which quoted Stoltenberg as saying that the ministers also discussed the situation in Afghanistan and the progress of the peace process and decided to “defer their decision”.
Separately, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday said that Washington will not remove troops in a disorderly manner from Afghanistan.
Austin spoke on the second and final day of a defense ministerial meeting of the alliance, during which allies discussed NATO operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as military readiness.
The defense chief thanked the group for their commitment to the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan that was launched in 2015. And he reiterated US support to end the war, according to a Pentagon statement.
“He told the Allies that the U.S. is conducting a thorough review of the conditions of the U.S.-Taliban Agreement to determine whether all parties have adhered to those conditions,” said the statement.
“And he made clear that he is committed to consulting with Allies and partners throughout this process. He reassured Allies that the U.S. would not undertake a hasty or disorderly withdrawal from Afghanistan,” it added.
The Taliban reached an agreement with Washington last February, promising to end the war in Afghanistan in exchange for security guarantees.
ENDS
