NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday night after the Heads of State meeting in Brussels that a decision on foreign troop levels for 2018 has not yet been made but that all alliance members were in support of the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan.

Stoltenberg said: "We reviewed our training mission in Afghanistan, and we agreed that we will continue to sustain our mission. I welcome that several Allies came forward today with new troop contributions. And on the basis of our review, we will take further decisions in the coming weeks."

He again reiterated that Afghanistan is a difficult challenge but said NATO feels that progress is being made in the country. He also commended the professionalism of the Afghan security forces. 

This came after NATO leaders wrapped up a meeting at the new NATO Headquarters on Thursday. 

The alliance agreed an action plan was needed to do more in the fight against terrorism and Stoltenberg announced that NATO will become a full member of the Global Coalition but that this does not mean it will engage in combat. 

“NATO will become a full member of the Global Coalition, in which all 28 allies already take part,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. 

He noted that this will enable NATO to take part in political deliberations, including on the coordination of training and capacity building.

The Alliance will increase its support to the Coalition, with NATO AWACS surveillance planes helping to improve airspace management. 

“We also decided to establish a terrorism intelligence cell within our new Intelligence Division. This will improve the sharing of information among Allies, including on the threat of foreign fighters,” said Stoltenberg.

NATO leaders also agreed to do more to ensure fairer burden sharing across the alliance. 

“Today, we decided to develop annual national plans, setting out how allies intend to meet the defense investment pledge we made together in 2014. The national plans will cover three major areas: cash, capabilities, and contributions,” he said. 

According to him, NATO leaders also agreed to meet again and hold a NATO Summit in 2018.

Leaders of NATO countries met in Brussels on Thursday for a special meeting to discuss the fight against terrorism and the alliance’s defense spending.

U.S President Donald Trump also attended the Heads of State meeting, which was his first visit to NATO’s headquarters. 

NATO is expected to commit about 1,500 troops in addition to 3,000 U.S troops to Afghanistan – on the back of a request by NATO commander in Afghanistan Gen John Nicholson earlier this year.

The decision however has not yet been made, as mentioned Thursday by Stoltenberg. 

Some countries and some senior U.S officials have questioned whether an increase in troop numbers would change the course of the war in Afghanistan.

NATO has been  trying to convince its allies that a few thousands more troops will help.