The withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan is unlikely to be extended after August 31, the Pentagon has confirmed.
Joe Biden has no plans to keep troops in the country after next week, despite requests by Boris Johnson and French leader Emanuel Macron.
According to the Pentagon, there has been "no change" to the timeline for withdrawal of American troops.
During a virtual meeting of the G7 today, hosted by the Prime Minister, leaders agreed on a “road map” for talks with the Taliban.
Speaking with reporters after the short session, Mr Johnson said the group agreed “not just a joint approach to dealing with the evacuation, but also a road map for the way in which we’re going to engage with the Taliban, as it probably will be a Taliban government in Kabul.”
He said people would have to be guaranteed safe passage out of the country “right the way through, August 31 and beyond” and it was the “number one condition” being set by the G7 leaders.
He added: “Some will say that they don’t accept that and some, I hope, will see the sense of that, because the G7 has very considerable leverage – economic, diplomatic and political.”
According to reports before the meeting, Mr Johnson was planning on appealing to Mr Biden to extend the withdrawal of troops beyond August 31, however when asked about this he avoided the question.
Mr Johnson said: “ The immediate phase of the evacuation is actually being a very considerable success by the military and I think most people looking at the numbers that we have got out would say it was quite remarkable.
“Since August 14 we’ve got 9,000 people coming to this country, hoping to make new lives and obviously we’re having to check them to vet them. There are all sorts of processes that we have to go through but 9,000 is a very considerable number.
“That’s UK nationals in Afghanistan, but it’s also those who have helped us during the last two decades, and it’s the UK, showing its commitment showing its responsibility to those people and I think we can be very proud of what we’re achieving.
Mr Johnson’s efforts appear to have failed, however, as US admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters there had been “no change” in the deadline.
He said “There’s been no change to the timeline of the mission, which is to have it done by the end of the month.”
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