NATO Defence Ministers on Tuesday agreed that continued support for the Afghan forces, the government and the people is the best way for them to contribute towards the peace process and that they will keep a civilian diplomatic presence in Kabul.

In a virtual meeting Tuesday, the ministers also agreed to continue providing advice and capacity-building support to Afghan security forces.

Following the virtual meeting, which was convened to discuss preparations for the upcoming NATO Summit and the way forward in Afghanistan, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: “We are ending our military mission, but we are not ending our support to the Afghans.”

“We are also looking at how we can provide military education and training outside Afghanistan, focused on Special Operations Forces, and we are looking at how to fund the provision of services enabling Allies and the international community to stay in Kabul, including support for the airport.”

He said the drawdown of NATO forces is progressing in an orderly and coordinated way “and at every step, the safety of our personnel remains paramount.”

He also stated that NATO will continue its civilian diplomatic presence in Kabul.

“And we are also now working on how we can establish out of country training for the Afghan forces, especially the special operation forces. And then, on top of that, we are now working together with all the Allies, NATO Allies are working together to make sure that we can provide support to important infrastructure, to support the international community at large.

“We are fully aware that the situation in Afghanistan is challenging, fragile and difficult,” he said.

Stoltenberg said that over the past two decades, NATO Allies have provided substantive support to the Afghan security forces and helped to build a professional, strong Afghan army and security force, “which has proven very capable. And that has enabled [NATO] to gradually decrease our presence from more than 100,000 troops not so many years ago, to, at the beginning of this year,10,000 troops, and then we will end our military presence within a short time.”