NATO chief hails Washington’s peace efforts

NATO Secretary General Jen Stoltenberg on Tuesday hailed Washington’s efforts to find a diplomatic and peaceful solution to the 17-year long war in Afghanistan and said that a potential peace deal between the US and the Taliban will also have implications on the presence of NATO and US forces in the country.

“First of all, I would like to commend ambassador (Zalmay) Khalilzad for his efforts and the hard work and his commitment to really find a solution and we all want a peaceful negotiated political solution to the crisis in Afghanistan. I totally agree with him (Khalilzad) that this is not about negotiating to leave there, this is about negotiating a peace deal. Peace deal may have implications for the presence of NATO and US troops in Afghanistan,” he said.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, NATO’s chief said the aim of the coalition in Afghanistan is to combat terrorism and to create conditions for a peaceful settlement.