WASHINGTON (AP) – Two months ago, the leaders of the world’s seven major industrialized democracies met in the middle of summer on the south-west coast of England. It was a happy occasion: the first face-to-face summit of the Group of Seven Nations in two years due to the coronavirus pandemic and the welcome appearance of President Joe Biden and his “America is back” message on issues ranging from the comfort up to COVID. 19 to climate change.
Smiles and sunlight seem distant when G-7 leaders meet again on Tuesday, in virtual format, for crisis talks in Afghanistan. The country’s growing refugee crisis, the collapse of its government and fears of a resurgence of Afghan terrorism have left G-7 allies revolutionizing and threatening the unity of the bloc.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, host of the June summit in the English town of Carbis Bay, reunites leaders amid widespread unhappiness from US allies over Biden’s treatment of the withdrawal from Afghanistan . Complaints have come from Britain, France, Germany and other G-7 countries, which includes only one non-NATO member, Japan.
Lawmakers who head the G-7 nations’ foreign affairs committees urged leaders in a letter Tuesday to “avoid arbitrary dates to end military support for the evacuation.”
Johnson and others, including French President Emmanuel Macron, are pressuring Biden to extend the August 31 self-imposed deadline for the total withdrawal of U.S. forces in order to ensure the evacuation of all foreign nationals, as well as those Afghans who worked or supported the U.S.-led NATO Operation that defeated the Taliban in 2001 and has now accepted defeat.
“The British position is that we want to stay longer if it is possible to do so,” said UK Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace.
But he said the 1,000 British troops at Kabul airport could not sustain the operation when the much larger US contingent leaves.
Despite Biden’s April announcement that the United States would withdraw completely from Afghanistan for the twentieth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the nation was almost a later reflection when the G- 7 in June. COVID-19, China and climate change dominated the agenda. And expectations of the upcoming Biden summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin were on top of people’s tongues.
Leaders ranked Afghanistan 57th out of 70 points in their final 25-page statement, behind Ukraine, Belarus and Ethiopia. Afghanistan did not even appear in the one-and-a-half-page summary of the document. NATO had already signed the withdrawal from the United States and all that seemed to remain was the end of an orderly withdrawal and the hope of a peace deal between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
“We call on all Afghan parties to reduce violence and agree on measures to successfully implement a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire and to fully commit to the peace process. In Afghanistan, an inclusive and sustainable political agreement is the ‘the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace that benefits all Afghans,’ the leaders said, without a touch of urgency.
The leaders said they were determined to “help the people of Afghanistan, including women, youth and minority groups, as they seek to preserve hard-won rights and freedoms.”
But as summer falls in the fall, those hopes have faded.
On the eve of the meeting, the White House said Biden and Johnson had spoken by telephone and discussed “the importance of close coordination with allies and partners to manage the current situation and forge a common approach to Afghanistan’s policy. “.
Johnson’s office said the two leaders “agreed to continue working together to ensure those who are eligible to leave can, even after the initial phase of the evacuation is over.”
Biden administration officials have refused to be told whether an extension is likely or possible, given the Taliban’s demand that all U.S. forces leave before August 31.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she hoped questions about Afghanistan’s evacuation schedule would be part of the G-7 meeting. Psaki would not predict any announcement of the meeting, but said the focus would be to evacuate the U.S. and Afghan allies as quickly as possible.
White House aides have said they think the meeting could grow controversial, as U.S. allies have disapproved of the tumultuous U.S. retreat.
Senior British military officials have expressed anger at the withdrawal from the United States, saying it exposes the vacuum of the transatlantic “special relationship”, a phrase used since World War II to underscore the links of history, friendship and the diplomatic interests shared between London and Washington. .
And the German government expresses impatience with the pace of the evacuation effort. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said most of the local staff working in his country in Afghanistan have not yet been retired and described Tuesday’s G-7 meeting as “very important” to discuss the issue. international access to Kabul airport beyond 31 August.
British Defense Minister Wallace, who has described the U.S. deal with the Taliban that set the deadline as a “mistake,” was baffling about the prospects of an extension of the evacuation effort.
“I think it’s unlikely,” he told Sky News. “Not only from what the Taliban have said, but if you look at President Biden’s public statements, I think it’s unlikely.
“It’s definitely worth it that we all try, and we will.”
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AP writers Jonathan Lemire in New York and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.