The German government has expressed its opposition to President Donald Trump’s decision to draw down the number of American troops in Afghanistan, a major development towards the ending of American involvement in the country. Several German officials have come out to say that the troop withdrawals are going to be too hasty even if the conflict has become America’s longest war so far.

Members of the Angela Merkel government claimed that reducing American troop presence in Afghanistan from 4,500 to just 2,500 troops could jeopardize the peace negotiations between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban.

“It shouldn’t be taken for granted that these two sides, after decades of conflict, are sitting at the negotiating table to begin talking to one another in a constructive way.” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said. “That’s why we shouldn’t add even more hurdles, which a rash exit from Afghanistan would lead to,” he added. The Defence Minister of Germany said that there should be no NATO troop reductions in Afghanistan if no peace deal is reached.

Germany sent in troops to Afghanistan to join the coalition forces after the attacks on September 11th. At the height of their troop deployment, Germany had 5,000 troops in the country. Now, they are down to 1,2500 troops.

German troops no longer serve in combat duties in the country. They are just there as support troops and are helping to train the Afghan military. Since the start of the conflict, 59 German soldiers have lost their lives in the fighting.

The United States has over 2,400 personnel killed including civilian employees with more than 20,000 wounded. That does not include the thousands of veterans who end up suffering from PTSD and have a hard time integrating back into civilian life after their service. Veterans also have a very high suicide rate.

German Member of Parliament Roderich Kiesewetter stated that the United States is obligated to rebuild the Afghan military and civil society. He also said that “A hasty and rash withdrawal would only lead to the collapse of social structures and the return of organized violence of all kinds.”

With all these calls against troop reduction, Germany has not expressed any plans yet to increase the presence of their own troops in Afghanistan.