For the peace to succeed, the Taliban must live up to their commitments to reduce violence, break all bonds with Al Qaida and other international terrorist groups, and engage in intra-Afghan talks in good faith, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.
“We need to see progress on the ground, meaning that we need to see that the Taliban is breaking all their ties with Al Qaeda,” Stoltenberg said at a press conference ahead of NATO Defense Ministerial meeting. “We need stronger and more firm demonstration of that.”
Stoltenberg also called for reduction in violence and start of intra-Afghan negotiations.
He said that the situation in Afghanistan remains “fragile, difficult and there are many obstacles that we have to overcome before we have a lasting political solution in Afghanistan.”
He reaffirmed NATO’s support to the peace process. “We strongly believe that this has to be an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led process.”
He said that NATO adjusts its presence in Afghanistan based on the situation on the ground.
“We assess, monitor the situation on the ground and based on that, we make decisions on adjusting our presence,” Stoltenberg said.
