Biden on the situation in Afghanistan, after the G7 summit

U.S. President Joe Biden began his much-delayed press conference following the G7 summit on Afghanistan by speaking about his domestic agenda and counting his achievements on the social and economic field.

After that, President Biden gave an update on the number of people evacuated from Afghanistan, saying that the United States has assisted in the evacuation of 70,700 people since Aug. 14 and 75,900 people since the end of July.

“Another 19 US military flights, 18 C-17s and one C-130 carrying approximately 6,400 evacuees, and 31 coalition flights carrying 5,600 people have have left Kabul just in the last 12 hours — a total of 50 more flights, 12,000 more people since I’ve updated you this morning,” Biden said.

The President stated that he had a “productive discussion” with his G7 counterparts, as well as leaders of the United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the European Union on Tuesday morning

The meeting came as some of America’s most powerful allies criticized Biden’s handling of the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, asking the president to extend the August 31 deadline.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki wrote in a White House readout, before the press conference, that President Biden conveyed to G7 leaders today that the US is “currently on pace” to finish evacuations by Aug. 31.

“There was strong agreement among the leaders, both about the evacuation mission underway as well as the need to coordinate our approach to Afghanistan as we move forward,” he said.

The U.S president made it clear that sooner is better, as each day of operations on the ground, added risk to the American troops due to threats from ISIS-K, a terrorist group against Taliban and American presence in Afghanistan, according to the president.

However, Biden said that the completion of the mission by August 31 depends on continued coordination with the Taliban, including continued access for evacuees to the airport. The President has asked the Pentagon and the State Department for contingency plans to adjust the timeline, should that become necessary.

The Taliban said, in a press conference Tuesday, it is against letting Afghan nationals leave. “We are not in favor of allowing Afghans to leave,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters.

“They [the Americans] have the opportunity, they have all the resources, they can take all the people that belong to them but we are not going to allow Afghans to leave and we will not extend the deadline,” he said.

The Biden administration has been in regular contact with Taliban officials throughout the course of the evacuation process, both on the ground in Afghanistan and in Doha, Qatar.

CIA director William Burns reportedly met secretly with the head of the Taliban on Monday, in Kabul. The meeting that was first reported on Tuesday amounts to the highest-level direct exchange of views since the militant group took control of the capital. It underscores the view inside the administration that they need a clearer understanding of where the Taliban stands on several issues as the Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw troops from the country looms, according to American officials.

In his statement, Biden said that U.S and allies will judge the Taliban by actions not words, as the possibility of collaborating with Taliban and recognizing it as the official Afghan government by the U.S and its allies depends on its position regarding terrorism.

Biden thanked troops, allies and democracies who stood with the U.S during the Afghan war. He assured Afghans who worked with U.S and its allies that they will be evacuated as soon as possible, confirming U.S’ readiness to welcome them into the country.

“We’re already seeing our allies’ commitment. They’re bringing to their countries the Afghans who served alongside their forces as translators or in their embassies just as we’re bringing to the United States those Afghans who worked alongside our forces and diplomats,” Biden said.

In the end, Biden said that he had asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to give the public “an update and a detailed report on exactly how many Americans are still in Afghanistan, how many we got out and what our projection is.”

Blinken tweeted, after the press conference, that he will speak on Wednesday in detail about American efforts to evacuate Afghans and Americans from Afghanistan.

Taliban retook control over Kabul after the Biden administration withdrew military troops from Afghanistan, ending America’s longest war.