NATO summit participants at the meeting did not express their disagreement with the withdrawal of military contingents from Afghanistan. This assertion was made on Monday in a telephone briefing by a high-ranking US administration official. A transcript of the conversation was distributed by the White House press service.
"I was at the meeting and I heard many [representatives of] countries that are significant contributors in terms of military presence speaking on the topic of Afghanistan. They all said they ultimately agreed with the decision to withdraw [troops from Afghanistan] this year. They realized the time was right," the official said.
The focus, he said, was on supporting Afghan security forces, the government and the people of the country.
US President Joe Biden on April 14 announced plans to begin withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan in May and complete it by September 11. This decision differs from Washington's commitment to bring its troops home by May 1, 2021, which was enshrined in an agreement reached last February in Doha between the previous US administration and the Taliban (banned in Russia).
At the end of April, there were 2.5 thousand American soldiers and officers in Afghanistan, according to the Pentagon. NATO also withdraws its forces from Afghanistan. On June 8, the US Defense Department announced that more than 50% of American servicemen and military equipment have already been withdrawn from the Central Asian republic.
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Based on materials from TASS