NATO FMs make no final decision on troops pull out

KABUL (Pajhwok) NATO foreign minister made no final decisions on force posture in Afghanistan, but are determined to take all necessary measures to keep our troops safe, according to a statement on Wednesday.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in press conference following the meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs said, Ministers also continued consultations on our presence in Afghanistan.

“We all see that there is no easy solution. There is no risk-free path ahead and we need to prepare for all options,” he said.

Ministers emphasised their full support to all efforts to reinvigorate the peace process.

Because a negotiated solution is the only way to achieve a sustainable peace, which prevents Afghanistan from again becoming a platform for international terrorism.

All sides must seize this historic opportunity without further delay and all regional and international actors must play their part to support a peaceful and stable Afghanistan.

NATO has around 10,000 troops in Afghanistan. The majority are from non-US Allies and partners.

“Today, we made no final decisions on our force posture, but we are determined to take all necessary measures to keep our troops safe. We will continue to consult very closely in the days and weeks to come, and we continue to decide and act together, as Allies.”

“We have now an historic opportunity to reach a political peaceful negotiated solution to the conflict in Afghanistan. Because we have now a peace process, peace talks. And we have also seen a renewed effort by the United States to reinvigorate those talks. And after decades of fighting, violence, we are now closer to an agreement and have been ever before.” “At the same time, we are all realistic and we know that it’s a hard way forward to make real progress. And we have no guarantees for that the peace talks will succeed.,” he said.

They are fragile and we also see that there is a need to really make progress, and therefore call on all sides, all parties to negotiate in good faith, to be constructive.

And that’s of course for the Afghan parties, but also of course for all regional actors; they have to be supportive of this peace process. And therefore, I welcome the fact that we have had a very good  and constructive discussion about this among the foreign ministers today.

The reason why we have not made any final decision is that of course we would like to see, what we will decide, will depend on how the peace process evolves.

There will be new meetings, also foreign minister of Turkey, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, updated us that Turkey is ready to host the meeting to support to the Afghan peace process.

Allies are committed to continue providing support for Afghan security forces, also by financial support. We are committed to continue to provide financial support throughout 2024.

And the most important thing for us now, as Allies, is that as we move forward, we need to be coordinated, to consult closely, to take decisions together and to act together. And that was a very clear message from all of them based on the principle: in together, adjust our presence in Afghanistan together, and when the time is right, we will leave together.

nh

Views: 102