- Title: NATO defence ministers to discuss Afghanistan
- Date: 25th October 2019
- Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (OCTOBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF NATO HEADQUARTERS NATO MEMBER STATE FLAGS
- Embargoed: 8th November 2019 07:41
- Keywords: defence ministers Florence Parly Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Hulusi Akar Mark Esper members NATO Ben Wallace Jens Stoltenberg allies
- Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- City: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- Country: Belgium
- Topics: NATO,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA002B2LI6VB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: NATO defence ministers arrived for a second day of talks on Friday (October 25) where they were expected to discuss deterrence and defence funding, as well as the alliance's mission in Afghanistan.
During a visit in Kabul earlier this week, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed the U.S.' "long-standing commitment" to Afghan security forces. His comments came even as a top general said nearly 2,000 American troops had been pulled out of the country over the past year.
On the first day of talks on Thursday, German defence minister Annagret Kramp-Karrenbauer presented NATO with a proposal for an international security zone in northern Syria. Kramp-Karrenbauer said that Russia, now a key power-broker would need to be involved in discussions if the fight against Islamic State was to continue.
(Production Hortense de Roffignac, Bart Biesemans, Jorrit Donner-Wittkopf) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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