US-European agreement to support peace in Afghanistan and fight terrorism

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a series of talks in Brussels with EU officials and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

Pompeo met yesterday with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and then met with the Secretary General of NATO, and discussed with him the support of peace efforts in Afghanistan and negotiations and steps for the gradual withdrawal of foreign forces in the country.

The US secretary also met a number of European officials in Brussels, including President of the European Parliament David Sassouli.

NATO support
The NATO Secretary-General said in his Twitter account that the alliance fully supports the search for peace in Afghanistan.

NATO ended its combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014 and handed over security responsibility to the Afghan government but is still deploying 16,000 troops on the ground to train and advise local forces.

The US envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said in a television interview yesterday that the draft agreement between Washington and the Taliban requires that America withdraw 5,000 troops from five bases in Afghanistan within 135 days, but the US envoy linked the implementation of this commitment to fulfill the Taliban terms of the agreement, most notably not The movement is using Afghan territory to attack America or any of its allies.

Draft Agreement
Khalilzad briefed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on the draft agreement between the United States and the Taliban.

But the imminent agreement between the United States and the Taliban does not mean a permanent ceasefire in Afghanistan, which will remain subject to negotiations between Afghan forces including the Taliban and the Kabul government, to be held within weeks in Sweden.

In a related context, said Russian President's special envoy to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov that Russia and a number of other countries will be guarantors of the possible agreement between the United States and the Taliban. Kabulov told Interfax news agency that it was premature to talk about the existence of an agreement between the two sides, as no one has confirmed this agreement officially, and no date has been set for signing, as he put it.