Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has called on NATO allies to stand by their funding commitments to Afghanistan following the December 2014 international troop withdrawal. Speaking at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, Clinton reminded austerity-hit European nations of their commitments to the $4.1bn pledged annually to the Central Asian nation after foreign forces end their combat role.

Hopes that the US can fix conditions for a long-term military presence in Afghanistan before an unofficial May deadline are fading because Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, is not prepared to compromise on two demands that have stalled negotiations for months.