Germany: tie Afghanistan troop pullout to talks' progress
Germany’s foreign minister says the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan should be tied to progress in stuttering peace negotiations between the Kabul government and the Taliban, rather than sticking “slavishly” to an end-of-April deadline
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan should be tied to progress in stuttering peace negotiations between the Kabul government and the Taliban rather than “slavishly” bound to an end-of-April deadline, Germany’s foreign minister said Tuesday.
Germany is the second-biggest contributor to NATO's Resolute Support training and assistance mission in Afghanistan, after the United States. President Joe Biden’s new administration has said it plans to review the peace agreement signed last February between the U.S. and the Taliban.
The Pentagon has said that the Taliban’s refusal to meet commitments to reduce violence in Afghanistan is raising questions about whether all U.S. troops will be able to leave by May as required under the peace deal.
At the same time, talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban are making little headway.
At the end of April, “these peace talks won't be over,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said at an event organized by weekly Die Zeit and three other German newspapers. “Our fear is that the Taliban could use this as a reason to leave the peace talks and seek a military solution.”
“So our approach is to say that we must couple both processes, the withdrawal of foreign forces with the peace negotiations,” Maas added. “We don't have to hang on slavishly to the date of the end of April — these things must be linked and when the peace negotiations are concluded successfully, the time will have come to withdraw foreign troops.”
Maas said an agreement will have to be sought with the U.S., the Afghan government and the Taliban on the matter.