NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg who addressed a press conference ahead of the NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Washington D.C. on Thursday said the alliance wants a peaceful solution to the Afghan conflict and that they strongly support the efforts that would end to such a solution. 

Stoltenberg said the role of NATO in fighting terrorism will be assessed and the US Secretary Mike Pompeo will update the participants on Afghan peace talks.

“We will also assess NATO’s role in the fight against terrorism. Secretary Pompeo will update us on the peace negotiations. And all NATO Allies strongly support the efforts to find a negotiated peaceful solution to the conflict in Afghanistan, to the war in Afghanistan,” Stoltenberg said. 

He said NATO allies are consulting closely on the situation of Afghanistan and that the US and the alliance together are assessing Afghanistan’s situation and will make decisions on their future presence.

“So we are doing an assessment together with the United States because the United States is a member of NATO. So we will discuss the situation in Afghanistan later on today,” he said. 

He said US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has updated NATO on peace talks adding that they want a sustainable peace in Afghanistan. 

“To have Afghan reconciliation, we need, of course, to have the Afghan government to be part of that. And therefore the talks which are now taking place is only the first stage,” he added. 

The NATO chief said the next stage has to be Afghan reconciliation in which the Afghan government should be involved.