WASHINGTON - US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Sunday night that President Joe Biden is heading to Brussels for Monday’s NATO Summit where he is expected to discuss a number of issues including that around the future security of both the United States embassy in Kabul and the airport.
Addressing members of the media onboard Air Force One, Sullivan said Biden would meet with his Turkish counterpart to discuss the issue of the future security of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
Turkey has offered to take charge of the airport security once troops have withdrawn but they have said this would be conditional.
Sullivan meanwhile said Biden will “cover a range of issues during the session with the leaders, including, of course, the immediate issue of the drawdown in Afghanistan, where we’re proceeding on an in-together, out-together basis, and coordinating very closely with our Allies as we draw down our remaining forces.”
Sullivan also said: “He (Biden) will also consult on ensuring security for an embassy presence that can continue to provide support to the Afghan National Security Forces and to the Afghan government, as well as humanitarian and civilian assistance to the Afghan people, especially to its women and girls.”
“Tomorrow (Monday) is about collective security and defense, and climate will be on the agenda; cyber will be on the agenda; Russia will be on the agenda; terrorism will be on the agenda; and this Afghanistan drawdown will be a significant issue,” he said.
Sullivan also stated that Biden will “discuss embassy presence with a broad range of allied embassies, and he will discuss security arrangements, specifically including with (Turkish) President Erdoğan.”
He did not elaborate and said instead such discussions “take place privately and with some degree of sensitivity”. (ATN)