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Added on the 14/04/2021 12:51:38 - Copyright : France 24 EN
NATO allies agree to start withdrawing their forces from Afghanistan by May 1 after the United States announced it will pull troops out by September. SOUNDBITE
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says that 'no final decision' on an Afghanistan withdrawal has been made yet. SOUNDBITE
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg insists that NATO members will consult and decide together on when to leave Afghanistan, after US President Donald Trump vowed to bring American troops home by Christmas. He was speaking during a news conference after talks with North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev. SOUNDBITE
NATO members have agreed that their established goal of spending two percent of their national output on defence will become a minimum level, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg tells reporters. "Eleven allies now reach or exceed the two percent benchmark," he says at the end of the first day of the NATO summit in Vilnius. "And we expect this number will rise substantially next year. Today, allies made an enduring commitment to invest at least two percent of gross domestic product annually in defence." SOUNDBITE
International support for Ukraine remains "strong and true" more than a year into Kyiv's battle against invading Russian forces, says US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin at a meeting of dozens of Kyiv's supporters at the Ramstein air base in Germany. SOUNDBITE
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says "all allies have agreed that Ukraine will become a NATO member" as he attends a US-hosted meeting in Germany to discuss further support for Ukraine, a day after a visit to Kyiv. SOUNDBITE