NATO will not withdraw its troops from Afghanistan “before the time is right”, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said, adding that the Taliban must do more to meet the terms of a 2020 peace agreement with the United States first.
Stoltenberg’s remarks came on Monday, days before the defence ministers of the 30 NATO member states discuss the deployment on Wednesday and Thursday.
The meeting is their highest-level talks since US President Joe Biden took office promising to work closely with allies after four years of tensions under Donald Trump.
Top of the agenda for the virtual conference will be the fate of the alliance’s 9,600-strong support mission in Afghanistan after Trump struck a deal with the Taliban to withdraw troops.
The deployment’s future hinges on whether Biden agrees to stick to a May deadline to pull out foreign forces or risks a bloody backlash from the armed fighters by staying put.
“While no ally wants to stay in Afghanistan longer than necessary, we will not leave before the time is right,” Stoltenberg told a media conference.
“We see that there is still a need for the Taliban to do more when it comes to delivering on their commitments … to make sure that they break all ties with international terrorists,” he said.
“Ministers will continue to assess the situation on the ground and monitor developments very closely,” he said.
“Our common goal is clear. Afghanistan should never again serve as a haven for terrorists to attack our homelands.”
Four senior NATO officials told Reuters news agency on January 31 international troops would stay beyond the May deadline, despite Taliban calls for a full withdrawal.
But defence ministers are not expected to make a concrete announcement on the deployment’s future at the meeting.
