On a stop in Tokyo, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stressed the importance of communication between Washington's and Beijing's defense authorities.
The U.S., along with about 7,000 NATO forces, will leave Afghanistan by Sept. 11. CENTCOM said earlier this week it had completed about 25% of its withdrawal.
The U.S. must find more ways to counter the use of small drones by America's enemies in the Mideast and elsewhere, said CENTCOM commander Gen. Frank McKenzie.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russia’s longtime Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov plan to talk Wednesday on the sidelines of an Arctic Council meeting in Reykjavik.
Zalmay Khalilzad, Washington’s special envoy to Afghanistan, argued that the Taliban have reason not to push for a military victory and instead pursue a negotiated political settlement.
The U.S. military and NATO would be shipping some military equipment out of Afghanistan while deciding what would remain behind with the Afghan Defense and Security Force, said Gen. Austin Miller.
The meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels will be a face-to-face opportunity for Biden to rebuild relations with leaders from Europe and Canada that became strained under former President Donald Trump.
The Biden administration will begin pulling out its remaining 2,500 troops on May 1 and complete the pullout at the latest by Sept. 11 — the 20th anniversary of the al-Qaida terror attack on the U.S.