The United States does not intend to leave Afghanistan, despite the withdrawal of troops from the country. This was announced on Monday, May 3, by State Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during a press conference with British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab in London, which was broadcast on the account of the United Kingdom’s foreign office in Twitter…
According to the diplomat, Washington will continue to assist in achieving enforcement between the Kabul authorities and the radical Taliban (banned in Russia).
“We are not leaving, we are not disconnecting. We intend to be very active diplomatically, trying to move forward negotiations on a political settlement between the Afghan government and the Taliban and other key parties, ”Blinken said.
He added that the United States will also help Afghanistan with economic and humanitarian development and support the country’s security forces.
In addition, the Secretary of State warned of a decisive US response in the event of an attack by militants in Afghanistan on the US military.
“We have made it very clear that by withdrawing forces from Afghanistan, we will protect them. And if they are attacked, we will take decisive action in response, ”concluded Blinken.
On April 29, the United States confirmed the start of a withdrawal from Afghanistan. Moreover, at the first stage of the operation, the American contingent in the country will increase for security reasons. According to the plan, the withdrawal of troops will be completed by 11 September.
On April 14, US President Joe Biden announced that the United States would begin withdrawing its contingent from Afghanistan on May 1. At the same time, as it was assumed earlier, by this date the US military in full force will have already left the country.
In the same month, Biden’s National Security Assistant, Jake Sullivan, said that Washington had achieved its goals set at the start of the 2001 operation in Afghanistan, which he noted was to investigate the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States.
In February last year, at a ceremony in Qatar, the United States and the Taliban signed the first peace agreement in more than 18 years of war. The Taliban have given a guarantee that they will not use the territory of Afghanistan for actions that pose a threat to the security of the United States and its allies. The Americans promised to withdraw their troops from the country.