WASHINGTON, 06 October 2021, (TON): NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg admitted that the alliance now has less leverage on the radical Taliban than before, but they “have not been reduced to zero.”

Stoltengberg said, speaking at Georgetown University “we, of course, still have leverage. There are fewer of them than before, but they have not been reduced to zero.”

The alliance secretary general also said that he would not like to pin any hopes on the Taliban after the movement’s seizure of power in Afghanistan, but stressed that NATO has certain expectations regarding the future policy of the Taliban.

Stoltenberg said “our countries also retain the ability to carry out long-range attacks.”

The United States withdrew its troops from Afghanistan after extensive consultations with other NATO countries, allegations to the contrary are not true, said alliance secretary general Jens Stoltenberg.

During an event at Georgetown University, the NATO Secretary General said that he had read reports that the American side allegedly made a decision to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan without proper consultations with NATO.

Stoltenberg said “this is absolutely not the case. This decision was made after careful consultations with each of the NATO countries. The allegations that these consultations did not take place do not correspond to reality.”