Biden ‘convinced’ he is right on Afghan pullout – and says evacuations ‘would have been hard no matter when we started’
Joe Biden has defended the US military pullout in Afghanistan, saying that the mass evacuation of refugees would have been “hard and painful no matter when we started”.
The US president said “my heart aches” for the thousands who are stranded outside Kabul airport in desperate scenes, but added that it was “just a fact” that the evacuation would have been difficult no matter how or when it was planned.
Tony Blair is among many who have criticised Mr Biden for the chaos seen in Kabul and across Afghanistan, with the former prime minister saying that the decision to withdraw troops was “imbecilic”.
At a White House news conference, Mr Biden said he had a “basic decision to make” and was “convinced I’m absolutely correct in not sending more men and women to war”.
Conditions are fraught for evacuees at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Pic: AP
He said: “If we do not leave Afghanistan now, when do we leave?”
Mr Biden added that he would not like to extend his deadline to stop evacuations and withdrawn US forces from Kabul on 31 August, but that talks were ongoing over this.
Afghans are becoming more desperate as the end of August approaches, with the last civilian flight to leave some time before that.
Mr Biden reiterated that his first priority is getting American citizens out of Afghanistan “as quickly and safely as possible”, adding that 11,000 individuals were evacuated over the weekend.
But ministers want Mr Biden to keep American forces on the ground beyond that date, with Labour calling for the prime minister to phone the UK ally to extend the exit date.
Boris Johnson confirmed on social media that he will convene G7 leaders, which will include Mr Biden, on Tuesday for “urgent talks” on the situation in the country.
And in a statement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the group would discuss “continuing our close co-ordination on Afghanistan policy” as well as ongoing evacuation efforts.
Members of the UK Armed Forces say taking part in the evacuation effort is becoming increasingly fraught
The Ministry of Defence confirmed that seven Afghan civilians had died in chaotic crowds outside the airfield
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed on Sunday that seven Afghan civilians had died in chaotic crowds outside Kabul airport, however reports have suggested as many 20 people have been killed in the past week while trying to get into the airfield.
Today, Sky News chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay witnessed UK armed forces working with the Taliban to restore order and process more evacuees but serious safety risks remain.
Former chief of the defence staff Lord Richards said UK forces securing the air strip are in a “very precarious situation”, with little protection from security threats posed by the likes of so-called Islamic State.
“I’ve done a few of these non-combat evacuation operations in my time and this is the worst possible scenario, when you are unable to clear a space between the airhead and your possible threat, which is exactly what is happening now,” he told Times Radio.
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In his first public comments since the Afghan govt collapsed, Tony Blair condemned what he called the ‘abandonment’ of Afghans.
Armed forces minister James Heappey said British troops are “seeing things that are unimaginably hard to deal with”, with reports of overcrowding, violence and shortages in the Kabul heat.
However, he said there have been “very encouraging” improvements at the Baron Hotel in the city, where Britons and Afghans eligible for repatriation are being processed, following reports earlier this weekend that it had been blockaded by the Taliban.
He said the “flow” outside the hotel is “significantly” better following changes to crowd control by the militant regime, with 731 people processed for UK flights on Sunday morning alone.
Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he “will not back down” from Russia’s goals in Ukraine during a phone call today, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president spoke to his US counterpart for almost an hour, and Mr Trump “again raised the issue of an early end to military action” in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
In response, Mr Putin said “Russia will not back down” from its aims there, which include “the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs,” Mr Ushakov said.
The phrase “root causes” is shorthand for Moscow’s argument that it was compelled to invade Ukraine in order to prevent the country from joining NATO.
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Trump and Putin’s latest call on Ukraine
Ukraine and its European allies say this is a pretext to justify what they call an imperial-style war, but Mr Trump has previously shown sympathy with Russia.
At the same time, Mr Putin told the US president that Russia is ready to continue negotiating, the aide said.
The Russian president said any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine give up its NATO bid and recognise his country’s territorial gains.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen with Mr Trump in June, is pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. Pic: Reuters
He also briefed Mr Trump on agreements made last month, which saw Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war and dead soldiers.
Specific dates for the third round of peace talks in Istanbul were not discussed – nor was the US decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s call came after the Pentagon confirmed some weapons due to be sent to Ukraine have been held as it reviews military stockpiles.
The paused shipments include air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, two people familiar with the situation have said.
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The decision led to Ukraine calling in the acting US envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington.
Kyiv also cautioned that the move would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s phone call was the sixth they have publicly disclosed since the US president returned to the White House in January.
Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ has been passed by the US congress, sending it to the president to sign into law.
The controversial tax breaks and spending cuts package cleared its final hurdle as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly approved the bill with a 218-214 vote.
The bill delivers tax breaks Mr Trump promised in his 2024 election campaign, cuts health and food safety programmes, and zeroes out dozens of green energy incentives.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), it will lower tax revenues by $4.5trn over 10 years and add $3.4trn to the US’s $36.2trn debt.
But despite concerns over the 869-page bill’s price tag – and its hit to healthcare programmes – Republicans largely lined up in support, with just two rebelling on the vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is congratulated following the vote. Pic: Reuters
Every Democrat in Congress voted against the bill, blasting it as a giveaway to the wealthy that will leave millions of Americans uninsured.
House Speaker Mike Johnson made the Republicans’ closing argument for the bill, telling Congress: “For everyday Americans, this means real, positive change that they can feel.”
Earlier, the House’s Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries gave a record-breaking eight-hour and 44-minute speech against it.
“The focus of this bill, the justification for all of the cuts that will hurt everyday Americans, is to provide massive tax breaks for billionaires,” he said.
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The bill’s spending cuts largely target Medicaid, the health programme that covers 71 million Americans on low incomes.
It will tighten enrolment standards, institute a work requirement and clamp down on a funding mechanism used by states to boost federal payments.
The changes could leave nearly 12 million people without health insurance, according to the CBO.
On the other side of the ledger, it will stave off tax increases that were due to hit most Americans at the end of the year, when tax cuts from President Trump’s first term were due to expire.
It also sets up new tax breaks for overtime pay, seniors and tipped income.
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The bill narrowly passed the US Senate on Tuesday after vice president JD Vance cast the deciding vote to break a 50-50 tie.
Mr Trump will sign it into law on Friday at 5pm local time (10pm in the UK), the White House said.
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