The NATO Heads of State and Government summit this week will bring together more than 40 heads of state including those from allies and partners, where they are expected to confirm NATO’s enduring commitment to Afghanistan.

President Ashraf Ghani, who left Kabul early Tuesday morning, will also attend the summit.

“This morning President @Ashraf Ghani left Kabul for Brussels to attend @NATO Heads of State summit,” Ghani’s office tweeted.

An official told the UAE’s National newspaper that NATO is expected to “confirm their commitment to support the financial sustainment of the Afghan security forces beyond 2020, and to reaffirm their support to an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process”.

“The meeting on Afghanistan will be attended by the leaders of all NATO allies and operational partners contributing troops to our Resolute Support Mission, as well as by representatives from Afghanistan, the UAE, the United Nations, the European Union, and the World Bank,” the NATO official said.

NATO's senior civilian representative in Afghanistan and the commander of the Resolute Support mission are also expected to attend. 

The summit comes in the wake of a surprise visit by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Kabul on Monday where he held talks with top Afghan officials including Ghani. 

Pompeo announced the US’s full support for Ghani’s efforts to resume peace negotiations with the Taliban and reiterated that Washington was willing to participate. 

Pompeo said the peace process would be Afghan-led but added that the US would be prepared to participate to help resolve differences and said support from neighboring countries would also be needed.