Brussels-NATO defence ministers meet Wednesday for their first talks since US President Joe Biden took over from Donald Trump with a vow to soothe tensions between Washington and its closest partners.
Key on the agenda at the two-day virtual conference is the future of NATO’s 9,600-strong support mission in Afghanistan after Trump sidelined allies and struck a deal with the Taliban to pull out troops.
Biden’s administration is reviewing whether to stick to a looming May 1 deadline to withdraw or risk a bloody backlash from the insurgents by staying.
The defence ministers will not make any firm announcement after the discussions wrap up on Thursday — but other NATO members insist they are willing to remain in Afghanistan, so long as Washington stays too.
“While no ally wants to stay in Afghanistan longer than necessary, we will not leave before the time is right,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday. Central to the mission’s fate is the question of whether the US determines that the Taliban has broken promises in the peace deal by ratcheting up attacks and failing to make headway in talks with the Kabul government.
New US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will “consult with allies about the process and take their feedback” to Washington, a senior US official said.
“All options remain under consideration,” the official added. The Taliban has launched a string of offensives threatening at least two provincial capitals and warned NATO ministers not to seek a “continuation of occupation and war” by staying.
NATO countries are desperate not to see Afghanistan slide back into serving as a sanctuary for groups like Al-Qaeda, more than two decades after the alliance launched operations there in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
“This war is not winnable, but NATO cannot allow itself to lose it pitifully,” a European diplomat said. A study mandated by the US Congress has called for a delay in the pullout, warning it would effectively hand the Taliban a victory.
Trump cut US troop numbers during his final days in office to 2,500 — their lowest figure since the start of the war in 2001.
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