Biden said the United States had "accomplished" its limited original mission of crushing the international militants groups behind the 9/11 attacks and that with every passing year the rationale for staying was "increasingly unclear."
President Joe Biden is deciding whether to meet a May 1 deadline for the withdrawal of the last 3,500 American troops in Afghanistan that was set in a February 2020 accord struck with the Taliban under former President Donald Trump.
He will engage the two sides on their preparatory efforts for talks on a political settlement that produces a permanent ceasefire and a durable and just peace.
"I advise those who go to this or that gate to gain power is that political power in Afghanistan has a gate, and the key is the vote of the Afghan people," he said.
A report by a U.S government watchdog has revealed that the United States wasted billions of dollars in reconstruction aid in Afghanistan on buildings and vehicles, that were either abandoned or destroyed.
Out of the $7.8 billion spent on buildings and vehicles since 2008, only $343.2 million worth were "maintained in good condition", according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).