President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai are set to hold a joint press conference at the White House this afternoon following a morning meeting in which they discussed the "continued transition" on America's longest war in Afghanistan.
Currently, roughly 68,000 U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan. The two leaders are discussing various plans to withdraw those troops over the next two years, as well as the size of a potential residual force that could remain in the country after the official end of the war.
Karzai has pushed for a larger residual force to be left behind than both U.S. commanders and the White House have advocated.
The Obama-Karzai meeting is the pair's first since Obama's re-election in November. It also comes amid a shakeup in Obama's second-term defense team, as Obama has announced nominees to fill the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State and CIA Director positions.
Two of those nominees — former Sen. Chuck Hagel for defense and Sen. John Kerry for state — could push for a faster withdrawal than what has been on the table.
There has even been speculation in recent days that there could be a so-called "zero option" on the table — meaning that all U.S. troops would be withdrawn and no force left behind. The White House left the door open for whether this was an option, but said the meetings between Obama and Karzai this week would not lead to any specific policy announcements today.
The press conference is set to start at 1:15 p.m. ET. We'll be updating with the leaders' remarks.
UPDATES: Obama says that "by the end of next year — 2014 — the transition will be complete." He says "this war will come to a responsible end."
Obama: "The reason we went to war in the first place is now within reach."
Obama said that starting this spring, coalition forces will move to a "support role."
“Starting this spring our troops will have a different mission," he said. "Training, advising, assisting Afghan forces.”
Obama said that the mission post-2014 is "training and assisting afghan forces," and "targeted counter-terrorism missions against al-Qaeda and their affiliates."
Taking questions, Obama said that troop withdrawal might be "accelerated somewhat." He would not provide specific troop levels he was looking for. Obama said that if U.S. forces remain in Afghanistan, they must have immunity.
As far as troop levels, Karzai said that "numbers are not going to make a difference to the situation in Afghanistan." He emphasized that the broader relationship between the U.S. would be more important.