WASHINGTON, April 15. /TASS/. Washington made a decision to begin the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan on May 1, but it warns the Taliban movement that all possible attacks will face a decisive response, US President Joe Biden announced Wednesday.
"The US will begin our final withdrawal on May 1 of this year. We will not conduct a hasty rush to the exit, we will do it responsibly, deliberately and safely," he said. "We will do it in full coordination with our allies and partners. […] The Taliban should know that if they attack us as we draw down, we will defend ourselves and our partners will all the tools at our disposal."
"US forces as well as troops deployed by our NATO allies and operational partners will be out of Afghanistan before we mark the 20th anniversary of that heinous attack on September 11 [2001]," Biden noted.
US President claimed that he made a decision to end the US war in Afghanistan after consultation with its US allies and official Kabul.
"After consulting closely with our allies and partners […] as well as [Afghanistan President Ashraf] Ghani and many other [leaders] around the world, I’ve concluded that it’s time to end America’s longest war," Biden said.
The US will ask other countries, including Russia, China, India and Pakistan to do more to support Afghanistan, Biden noted.
"We will ask other countries in the region to do more to support Afghanistan: especially Pakistan, as well as Russia, China, India and Turkey. They all have a significant stake in the stable future for Afghanistan," he said.