France not in a hurry to withdraw the troops from Afghanistan
The head of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, intends to inform the head of the US Department of State, Mike Pompeo, who remains in office and will soon arrive on a working trip to Paris, about the reluctance of the French authorities to withdraw their troops from Iraq and Afghanistan in an accelerated manner.
Le Drian expressed the official position of the French authorities on Friday, November 13, in a conversation with journalists from the BFM TV channel. The official stressed that the accelerated timing of the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan is a “bad idea.” “And this should not be done in Iraq, about which we will report to Pompeo,” the French minister said.
On the eve of the arrival of the American colleague, the official noted that the parties “will have to discuss a series of difficult issues: the situation in Iraq, the situation in Iran, terrorism, difficulties in the Middle East, relations with China.”
The media reports, the administration of the French president announced the scheduled meeting between Emmanuel Macron and Mike Pompeo in the French capital at the initiative of the Americans.
An interesting fact is that Secretary of State Pompeo doesn’t admit the defeat of the current US chief Donald Trump in the recent elections, while Macron has already managed to congratulate the Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden on his victory, as well as speak with him by phone.
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