US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg give a press conference during a NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, on March 23, 2021.
(YVES HERMAN / POOL / AFP)
BRUSSELS – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that a US review on troop withdrawal in Afghanistan was still underway and he would listen and consult with allies.
Blinken was speaking on his first visit to the NATO headquarters.
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We went in together, we have adjusted together and when the time is right, we will leave together.
Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State
“We went in together, we have adjusted together and when the time is right, we will leave together,” Blinken said of Western involvement in the country. NATO foreign ministers will discuss Afghanistan over the next two days in Brussels.
Blinken also said the NATO military alliance was at a pivotal moment in facing threats around the world, as well as climate change. He pledged to rebuild and revitalize the alliance and to share American plans on any possible withdrawal from Afghanistan.
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“I’ve come here to express the United States’ steadfast commitment (to NATO),” Blinken told reporters as he met NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. “The United States wants to rebuild our partnerships, first and foremost with our NATO allies, we want to revitalize the alliance.”
After four years of friction with Washington under the presidency of Donald Trump, who said the alliance was obsolete, NATO’s European allies have also welcomed the change in tone under new US President Joe Biden.
Stoltenberg has set out areas where NATO could modernize over the medium term – from climate measures to more sustainable funding of military operations – and needs US support.