NATO Leaders Seek Time on Afghan Exit Strategy

NATO intends next year to begin phasing out its military presence in Afghanistan — over 150,000 troops, including over 100,000 U.S. soldiers —and hopes to complete it by 2014.

Public opinion across Europe and in the United States is increasingly opposed to the war in Afghanistan. But with a shift from combat operations to police and army training, diplomats here said they hoped they could buy some time with the public instead of rushing out of Afghanistan. At the same time, Mr. Karzai is pushing for greater Afghan control.

Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, was expected to make a closed-door presentation setting out his vision of how to make a transition to Afghan control that could increase stability in the country.

Diplomats said Gen. Petraeus is expected to emphasize the need for more military operations this year with many more U.S. combat troops in order to weaken the Taliban.

After the NATO-Afghan meeting, leaders turn their attention to a summit with President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia on Saturday afternoon.

NATO, which has been seeking much closer cooperation with Russia over Afghanistan, expects to sign agreements to expand the alliance’s supply routes to Afghanistan through Russia as well as set up a new training program in Russia for counter-narcotics agents from Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries. NATO and Russia are also close to agreeing to a program to provide training to Afghan helicopter crews.

However, it is still unclear if Russia will participate in Mr. Obama’s plans to build a missile shield over Europe.

NATO leaders agreed Friday night on the missile shield but the exact details over cost and command and control of the shield still have to be worked out.

“It offers a role for all of our allies,” Mr. Obama told reporters Friday. “It responds to the threats of our times. It shows our determination to protect our citizens from the threat of ballistic missiles.”

Mr. Obama did not mention Iran by name, acceding to the wishes of NATO member Turkey, which had threatened to block the deal if its neighbor was singled out.

And while the U.S. has invited Russia to participate, European diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity Saturday, said NATO and Russia would probably agree to develop two separate systems but eventually connect them.

Under the arrangement, a limited system of U.S. anti-missile interceptors and radars already planned for Europe — to include interceptors in Romania and Poland and possibly radar in Turkey — would be linked to expanded European-owned missile defenses. That would create a broad system that protects every NATO country against medium-range missile attack.