NATO Chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged Afghanistan on Friday to sigh a security pact over troop presence. However he said that the military alliance must plan for all options regarding this issue, including a complete withdrawal.

NATO Chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged Afghanistan on Friday to sigh a security pact over troop presence. However he said that the military alliance must plan for all options regarding this issue, including a complete withdrawal.

"We all know the facts. If there is no US-Afghan agreement, there can be no NATO-Afghan deal... and if there is no agreement, there will be no NATO troops in Afghanistan after 2014," Rasmussen said as he went into a NATO defense ministers meeting.

"Let me stress -- this is not our preferred outcome," he said. "But these are the facts -- facts that we need to take into account in our planning.
"This is why I once again urge Afghan leaders to sign the security agreement" with Washington, he added.

Rasmussen was speaking after US President Barack Obama warned Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai that he was now planning for a full US troop withdrawal because of Kabul's repeated refusal to sign the security pact.

NATO Ready to Help Ukraine Democratic Reforms

In another context, Rasmussen said that the NATO will continue to help Ukraine, which has close ties with the military alliance, to push ahead with democratic reforms.

"Ukraine is a close and long-standing partner to NATO. And NATO is a sincere friend of Ukraine," Rasmussen said.

"We stand ready to continue assisting Ukraine in its democratic reforms," he said.
Rasmussen said recent developments in Ukraine, once a communist Moscow satellite, will be discussed at the two-day meeting at NATO HQ in Brussels.

Asked if he had been in contact with Russia following the ouster of president Viktor Yanukovych, Rasmussen did not reply directly.

"Let me stress that it's for the Ukrainian people to determine what should be the future of their country," he said.

"We take it for granted that all nations respect the sovereignty and independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine."