Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Nearly all U.S. Ambassador posts are unfilled. As the Biden administration struggles to get nominees confirmed, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., has been thrust into the spotlight while leading Presidential delegations around the world. <\/p>\n
She spoke to POLITICO’s Ryan Heath in the days following the Taliban\u2019s takeover of Kabul about where she stands with Afghanistan\u2019s ambassador to the U.N. and what\u2019s next for U.S. relations with the Taliban. <\/p>\n
But first \u2014 because diplomats are notoriously tightlipped \u2014 Ryan strategizes with Alex Ward, author of POLITICO\u2019s \u201cNational Security Daily\u201d newsletter, on how to get answers from Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield about the Taliban. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere is tremendous damage being done by holding up our ambassadors from getting out to do the jobs that the American people need us to do to represent them overseas.\u201d \u2014 Amb. Linda Thomas-Greenfield<\/p>\n
\u201cI sit two seats away from the Chinese [permanent representative], so we\u2019re regularly consulting with each other on the floor. We call each other on a regular basis. And while we’re not always in sync with each other on issues, the issues where we are in sync on, we\u2019re able to move on those issues very, very quickly.\u201d \u2014 Amb. Linda Thomas-Greenfield<\/p>\n
\u201cWe definitely will have an intense discussion with our allies on the recognition issue. We’re not there yet. We need to see what kind of government the Taliban form, and we need to see what kind of actions that they take once they form the government\u2026.We will be watching their actions very, very closely before any decisions will be made on recognition of a government that they are part of.\u201d \u2014 Amb. Linda Thomas-Greenfield<\/p>\n
On Ghulam Isaczai, the U.N. ambassador of the elected government of Afghanistan: \u201cI am in regular touch with him. We were communicating with each other today, and I am very supportive of him. And we will watch and see how things evolve.\u201d \u2014 Amb. Linda Thomas-Greenfield<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have stayed in contact with each other\u2026.We will continue to be friends and supporters of this ambassador as well as the Afghan ambassador moving forward.\u201d \u2014 Amb. Linda Thomas-Greenfield<\/p>\n
With her confirmation delayed in the Senate, \u201cI imagined that my colleagues sitting here in New York on the Security Council were wondering what was going on. I really sprinted to the finish line. I was in meetings almost 24\/7 for four days.\u201d<\/p>\n
While there is no love lost between any Biden official and the previous administration (\u201cThere was not a proper handover\u201d), Thomas-Greenfield called her predecessor Kelly Craft \u201cextraordinarily hospitable\u201d and \u201cvery supportive.\u201d <\/p>\n