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20 November 2010 Last updated at 03:56 ET Share this page
Karzai to meet Nato as Afghanistan shift looms
Nato hopes to follow the Iraq model, pulling out combat troops but staying in Afghanistan to train local forces
Continue reading the main story Related stories
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is preparing to meet Nato leaders in Lisbon for talks on withdrawing troops from his country by the end of 2014.
A spokesman for Mr Karzai said he and Nato shared the "same strategic interests" but that there were many issues still to be worked out.
On Friday, the military alliance agreed to develop a joint missile defence shield covering all member states.
It also approved a new 10-year plan defining its role in the world.
The "strategic concept" commits Nato to defending all member states, countering new threats and working towards a nuclear-free world.
US President Barack Obama said the new missile shield would demonstrate Nato's "determination to protect our citizens from the threat of ballistic missiles".
Mr Obama did not mention Iran, judged to be the key potential missile threat to Nato members, correspondents say, and there was little detail on Russia's reaction to the plan. Moscow strongly opposed previous US attempts to build a missile shield in Europe, fearing its own security could be compromised.
In a nod to the "reset" of US-Russia ties, the Portugal summit also backed the swift ratification of the new Start treaty between the US and Russia, aimed at cutting the nuclear weapon stockpiles of both sides.
The treaty faces opposition in the Senate and could be held up by Republicans after they made gains in recent mid-term elections.
'Clear destination' The Afghan delegation and Nato leaders are due to hold several hours of talks on Saturday morning aimed at thrashing out a plan for a transition of power from Nato to Afghan forces.
Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) has some 130,000 soldiers based in Afghanistan, most of them from the US.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
Speaking in Lisbon, Mr Obama said the Isaf mission was "moving to a new phase", but that the target for handing over the overall responsibility for security to the Afghans was still 2014.
Some Nato members have expressed concerns that Afghanistan may not be ready to manage its own security by that time, but Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has described the goal as "realistic".
Mr Rasmussen said there would still be a role for Isaf troops in the country in 2015 and onwards, but that would largely be in training Afghan forces.
Ashraf Ghani, a spokesman for President Karzai, said Nato and Kabul had the same "strategic objectives" for the withdrawal - they now needed "to work out a lot of implementation issues" and set milestones for the intervening years.
"A journey that has a clear sense of destination is a much easier journey than a journey into the unknown," the Associated Press quoted him as saying.
"We have now agreed on the destination, this becomes the question of aligning ends and means, together determining the pace and bringing about a common understanding of strategy."
Global role The two-day Lisbon summit has been billed as one of the most important in the alliance's history, as it seeks to update its strategy and structure to face new security threats.
Continue reading the main story Analysis
Jonathan Marcus BBC Diplomatic Correspondent
The missile defence plan is directed against the potential threat from the 30 or so countries that have or are developing weapons capable of reaching Nato soil.
In Washington's view the primary threat comes from Iran. But you will not find any mention of Tehran's missiles in Nato's new plan.
Turkey - which may well be host to a crucial X-Band radar station - insisted it would not back the plan if there was any explicit mention of Iran.
This is only a pointer to some of the many problems that may lie ahead; issues of command and control, data exchange and cost.
Bringing Russia on board too will not be easy; Russia has so far rejected past US invitations, fearful that its own missile force might be compromised.
Any deal with Moscow is likely to involve coordination between separate Nato and Russian systems rather than the full integration of Russia's air defences in the Nato scheme.
On Friday member states agreed a new 10-year "strategic concept", a document that defines the fundamental nature of Nato's role in the world.
The draining, ongoing conflict in Afghanistan had prompted suggestions that Nato would retreat from explicit commitments to a global defence role.
However, the document agreed on Friday commits Nato members "to defend one another against attack, including against new threats to the safety of our citizens", without defining a geographical limit to its theatre of operations.
The alliance would also seek to "create the conditions" for a world without nuclear weapons, but until that goal was in sight would remain a nuclear-armed organisation.
That decision will see US nuclear weapons remain in Europe despite calls from Germany and some other members for Mr Obama to pull them out.
Separately, member states reached an agreement to develop and deploy defences against ballistic missile attack on their territories.
Mr Obama said the agreement "responds to the threats of our times" and would benefit all Nato citizens.
"For the first time, we have agreed to develop a missile defence capability that's strong enough to cover all Nato European territory and populations, as well as the United States," he said.
Nato hopes Russia - a long-term opponent of previous US missile defence plans - will also agree to join the project, and will speak about the issue with Mr Medvedev on Saturday.
But the BBC's diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says that bringing Russia on board will not be easy - Moscow has rejected all previous invitations over fears its own missile force might be compromised.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is due to address the summit on Saturday.
Karzai to meet Nato as Afghanistan shift looms
Nato hopes to follow the Iraq model, pulling out combat troops but staying in Afghanistan to train local forces Continue reading the main story Related stories
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is preparing to meet Nato leaders in Lisbon for talks on withdrawing troops from his country by the end of 2014.
A spokesman for Mr Karzai said he and Nato shared the "same strategic interests" but that there were many issues still to be worked out.
On Friday, the military alliance agreed to develop a joint missile defence shield covering all member states.
It also approved a new 10-year plan defining its role in the world.
The "strategic concept" commits Nato to defending all member states, countering new threats and working towards a nuclear-free world.
US President Barack Obama said the new missile shield would demonstrate Nato's "determination to protect our citizens from the threat of ballistic missiles".
Mr Obama did not mention Iran, judged to be the key potential missile threat to Nato members, correspondents say, and there was little detail on Russia's reaction to the plan. Moscow strongly opposed previous US attempts to build a missile shield in Europe, fearing its own security could be compromised.
In a nod to the "reset" of US-Russia ties, the Portugal summit also backed the swift ratification of the new Start treaty between the US and Russia, aimed at cutting the nuclear weapon stockpiles of both sides.
The treaty faces opposition in the Senate and could be held up by Republicans after they made gains in recent mid-term elections.
'Clear destination' The Afghan delegation and Nato leaders are due to hold several hours of talks on Saturday morning aimed at thrashing out a plan for a transition of power from Nato to Afghan forces.
Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) has some 130,000 soldiers based in Afghanistan, most of them from the US.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
For the first time, we have agreed to develop a missile defence capability that's strong enough”
End Quote Barack Obama US President Speaking in Lisbon, Mr Obama said the Isaf mission was "moving to a new phase", but that the target for handing over the overall responsibility for security to the Afghans was still 2014.
Some Nato members have expressed concerns that Afghanistan may not be ready to manage its own security by that time, but Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has described the goal as "realistic".
Mr Rasmussen said there would still be a role for Isaf troops in the country in 2015 and onwards, but that would largely be in training Afghan forces.
Ashraf Ghani, a spokesman for President Karzai, said Nato and Kabul had the same "strategic objectives" for the withdrawal - they now needed "to work out a lot of implementation issues" and set milestones for the intervening years.
"A journey that has a clear sense of destination is a much easier journey than a journey into the unknown," the Associated Press quoted him as saying.
"We have now agreed on the destination, this becomes the question of aligning ends and means, together determining the pace and bringing about a common understanding of strategy."
Global role The two-day Lisbon summit has been billed as one of the most important in the alliance's history, as it seeks to update its strategy and structure to face new security threats.
Continue reading the main story Analysis
Jonathan Marcus BBC Diplomatic Correspondent
The missile defence plan is directed against the potential threat from the 30 or so countries that have or are developing weapons capable of reaching Nato soil.
In Washington's view the primary threat comes from Iran. But you will not find any mention of Tehran's missiles in Nato's new plan.
Turkey - which may well be host to a crucial X-Band radar station - insisted it would not back the plan if there was any explicit mention of Iran.
This is only a pointer to some of the many problems that may lie ahead; issues of command and control, data exchange and cost.
Bringing Russia on board too will not be easy; Russia has so far rejected past US invitations, fearful that its own missile force might be compromised.
Any deal with Moscow is likely to involve coordination between separate Nato and Russian systems rather than the full integration of Russia's air defences in the Nato scheme.
On Friday member states agreed a new 10-year "strategic concept", a document that defines the fundamental nature of Nato's role in the world.
The draining, ongoing conflict in Afghanistan had prompted suggestions that Nato would retreat from explicit commitments to a global defence role.
However, the document agreed on Friday commits Nato members "to defend one another against attack, including against new threats to the safety of our citizens", without defining a geographical limit to its theatre of operations.
The alliance would also seek to "create the conditions" for a world without nuclear weapons, but until that goal was in sight would remain a nuclear-armed organisation.
That decision will see US nuclear weapons remain in Europe despite calls from Germany and some other members for Mr Obama to pull them out.
Separately, member states reached an agreement to develop and deploy defences against ballistic missile attack on their territories.
Mr Obama said the agreement "responds to the threats of our times" and would benefit all Nato citizens.
"For the first time, we have agreed to develop a missile defence capability that's strong enough to cover all Nato European territory and populations, as well as the United States," he said.
Nato hopes Russia - a long-term opponent of previous US missile defence plans - will also agree to join the project, and will speak about the issue with Mr Medvedev on Saturday.
But the BBC's diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says that bringing Russia on board will not be easy - Moscow has rejected all previous invitations over fears its own missile force might be compromised.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is due to address the summit on Saturday.