G7 leaders push Biden to extend deadline

Joe Biden appeared isolated from allies Monday over the Afghanistan withdrawal as France and Germany joined the U.K. in saying flights must continue beyond the Aug. 31 deadline.

Ahead of a crunch meeting of G7 world leaders Tuesday, Boris Johnson said it was his “first priority” to ensure the “complete” withdrawal of Britons and other Afghans who helped the U.K. during its 20-year mission in the country.

The French foreign minister joined the call for a delayed withdrawal and the Germans sought to keep Kabul airport running into September, while the Canadians stressed the evacuation flights must run “as long as possible.”

But the Taliban issued a stark warning to the West, with a spokesman saying the removal of troops by the end of the month was a “red line” and threatening “consequences” if it was missed.

Biden was warned there would be “pandemonium” on the streets of Kabul if he goes ahead with plans to remove all U.S. troops by next Tuesday. A Pentagon spokesman kept the door open to a potential delay, saying defence chiefs could discuss it with Biden at a later date, but stressed the focus now was getting as many eligible evacuees out of the country by the end of the month.

The Daily Telegraph understands British military planners are already preparing a “weekend withdrawal” that would see most troops in Kabul sent home by the end of Sunday.

The G7 leaders, from the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Canada, Japan and Italy, will hold a virtual meeting Tuesday to discuss how to ensure Afghanistan will not once again become a “breeding ground for terrorism.” The U.K. has flown 7,109 people out of Kabul but thousands of Britons and Afghans who helped the U.K. are still in the country.

Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, echoed Downing Street’s calls for the Aug. 31 deadline to be delayed.

“If their timetable extends even by a day or two, that will give us a day or two more to evacuate people,” Wallace said of the Americans. “We are really down to hours, not weeks. We have to exploit every minute to get more people out.”

Jean-yves Le Drian, France’s foreign minister, made a similar call, saying: “We are concerned about the Aug. 31 deadline set by the United States. More time is needed to complete the current operations.”

Justin Trudeau said his government’s focus remains “on getting as many Afghans out to safety as possible” but did not reveal his views on the question of extending the evacuation operation.

Germany says it is in talks to keep flights operating after the deadline, but indicated it was talking about civilian flights, not maintaining the military operation.

Ministers in Japan and Italy, the other two G7 nations, have been less explicit in public about their positions.