Afghanistan: Germany, US wary of Taliban government

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks Wednesday at the Ramstein Air Base in western Germany and hosted a virtual meeting with a number of foreign ministers from there.

The US base has been a processing hub for thousands of evacuees during the massive airlift from Afghanistan. Around 34,000 people were flown for layovers to Ramstein. Some 20,000  have already left for further destinations, a spokesperson for the German Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.

The two countries have sought to continue evacuating their citizens and Afghan allies out of Afghanistan after the US troop withdrawal.

Maas and Blinken's meeting came as Western governments weigh how to deal with the new Taliban regime in Afghanistan. 

What did Blinken say?

The two diplomats held bilateral talks before a virtual meeting with other foreign ministers and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.  

Following that meeting, Blinken told reporters that he discussed with partners how to hold the Taliban to their commitments. 

He also that the Taliban would have to work for the right to be regarded by the international community as a legitimate government.

"The Taliban seek international legitimacy. Any legitimacy — any support — will have to be earned," Blinken said.

He also responded to criticism that the US administration was not making enough effort to facilitate further evacuations, vowing to put pressure on the Taliban to start charter flights out of Afghanistan.

"We are working to do everything in our power to support those flights and to get them off the ground," he said.

Blinken said the Islamist group was preventing some flights from leaving because some people wanting to fly out did not have the correct documentation.  

"We’ve made clear to all parties, we’ve made clear to the Taliban that these charters need to be able to depart," the secretary of state said.

What did Maas say?

 Maas, in his turn, said the non-inclusive interim government announced by the Taliban was "not the signal for more international cooperation and stability in the country."  

"We hope that in the further formation of a government, which has not been completed, the necessary signals for this will be sent," he said.

"It must be clear to the Taliban that international isolation is not in its interests, and especially not in those of Afghanistan's people. A country with a totally collapsed economy will never be stable," he added.

Why did the meeting take place?

Maas had said previously that the goal of Wednesday's meeting was "to clarify what a joint approach toward the Taliban can look like." 

"The people of Afghanistan are not to blame for the Taliban coming to power. And they do not deserve to have the international community turn away now," Maas said in a statement.

The top German diplomat warned that a threefold humanitarian crisis was looming in Afghanistan due to hunger, the lack of aid from international relief groups and the volatile political situation with the new Taliban regime in Kabul.

"And if a new government is not able to keep the affairs of state running, there is a threat of economic collapse after the political one — with even more drastic humanitarian consequences," Maas warned.

Ahead of the talks with Maas, Blinken spoke with some of the Afghan people staying at the air base. He told some of the children there: "Many, many, many Americans are really looking forward to welcoming you and having you come to the United States." 

What is the situation in Afghanistan? 

Thousands of Afghans have fled their country since the Taliban takeover. 

On Tuesday, the Taliban announced a caretaker government in Afghanistan. The Islamist hard-line militants appointed longtime leaders in the Taliban power structure, despite their recent bids to indicate a more moderate approach in future.

The announcement came just hours after Taliban militants fired warning shots to disperse protests against their rule. 

They had also claimed victory in the northeastern Panjshir province — the last Afghan region still holding out against their rule. However, resistance forces said the fighting was still ongoing.

"The announcement of a transitional government without the participation of other groups and yesterday's violence against demonstrators and journalists in Kabul are not signals that give cause for optimism," Maas said before his meeting with Blinken.

tj,fb/msh (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)