President Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke about Afghanistan Wednesday, the White House said.
Biden and Merkel, “praised the ongoing efforts of their military and civilian personnel who are working closely together in Kabul on the evacuation of their citizens, vulnerable Afghans, and the courageous Afghan nationals who worked tirelessly over the last 20 years to provide security, promote peace, and deliver development assistance to the Afghan people,” according to a readout of the call released by the White House.
They also discussed the “need” for “close coordination on the provision of humanitarian aid for vulnerable Afghans in country as well as support for neighboring states,” the readout says.
As CNN has previously reported, Biden has been largely isolated from other world leaders in the wake of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, a break from his promise to restore American standing in the world.
While his team had been in communication with foreign leaders, Biden finally spoke to his first world leader, Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on Tuesday.
Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Johnson have all conferred with each other over the past days. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on CNN that he hasn’t spoken with Biden. Biden will face a virtual meeting on the G7 next week, where stark differences over Afghanistan could be on display.
The readout of the Merkel call adds that she and Biden “agreed to continue planning for this work in the upcoming virtual meeting of G7 partners.”