“We have achieved the goals we set for ourselves. Now is the time to bring our troops home. President Biden will talk about it in a few hours in the United States,” said Anthony Blinken on arriving at headquarters on Wednesday. NATO, in Brussels, for a videoconference with its counterparts and defense ministers from all 30 member states.

“This is an important moment for our coalition. Nearly 20 years ago, after the US attack on September 11th, we went together to Afghanistan to confront those who attacked us and to make sure that Afghanistan never again became a haven for terrorists. Who can attack one of us.”

An official announcement on the matter is expected from President Joe Biden on Wednesday afternoon in the United States.

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An exceptional meeting

Anthony Blinken and Defense Minister Lloyd Austin arrived in Brussels the day before to attend this extraordinary meeting which should also deal with tensions with Russia in Ukraine and prepare for the next NATO summit.

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We learned from diplomatic sources that the convening of this meeting, scheduled for late on Wednesday, surprised most allies. Some ministers, including French diplomatic chief Jean-Yves Le Drian, will be absent from an official visit to India.

This video conference was preceded by a meeting between the Americans and representatives of the most participating countries in Afghanistan: Germany, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Italy. These five countries have deployed 6,000 soldiers out of 9,592 soldiers who participated in 36 NATO member states and partners such as Ukraine (10 soldiers) in NATO’s Operation Resolute Support.

The German Foreign Ministry announced that the United States also intends to hold a direct meeting with the “Quartet” ministers, that is, the heads of American, French, British and German diplomats.

fgn with agencies