Berlin, May 5 (IANS/RIA Novosti): German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she hopes that NATO would withdraw its forces from Afghanistan by 2014 as previously planned.
"Germany will insist on it at the upcoming NATO summit," Merkel said Friday at a press conference following a meeting with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
The chancellor said Afghanistan could expect further international aid from Germany after the agreed transfer of responsibility in 2014.
Rasmussen said the NATO would "make clear" its commitment to complete the transition by the end of 2014 and how to support Afghanistan beyond 2014 in an upcoming NATO summit in Chicago.