SULAIMANI (ESTA) — France will make clear to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a visit to Paris next week that it opposes a unilateral American withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan given the fight against Islamist militancy, its foreign minister said on Friday.
Jean-Yves Le Drian and President Emmanuel Macron are due to meet Pompeo on Monday in the French capital, according to Reuters.
The United States has around 5,200 troops that were deployed in Iraq to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) militant group. In October, U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien said the United States had less than 5,000 troops in Afghanistan currently and would go down to 2,500 by early next year.
The United States and Iraq in June affirmed their commitment to the reduction of U.S. troops in the country in coming months, with no plans by Washington to maintain permanent bases or a permanent military presence.
