David Cameron warns François Hollande against early Afghanistan exit Francois Hollande will meet David Cameron on Friday for their first talks since his election as French president. Photograph: Bertrand Langlois/AFP/Getty Images David Cameron is to urge the French president to dilute his campaign promise to withdraw 3,400 French troops from Afghanistan two years earlier than planned. The prime minister will meet François Hollande at the British ambassador's residence in Washington on Friday ahead of the G8 summit hosted by Barack Obama at Camp David. They are the first talks between the two leaders since Hollande won the French presidential election in which Cameron openly backed his rival, Nicolas Sarkozy. Cameron declined to meet Hollande when he visited London during the campaign, believing Sarkozy would be re-elected. French sources insist there is no residual desire to punish Cameron, but warn that Hollande will be a tougher partner over issues such as reducing the British contribution to the EU budget. Cameron was one of the first world leaders on the phone to congratulate Hollande on his victory, and will be anxious to ensure the long-term defence and nuclear co-operation agreements signed by the two countries at Lancaster House two years ago remain intact. Cameron's talks are likely to be focused on testing the detail of Hollande's demand for a switch of focus from austerity to growth in Europe, a slogan that often conceals more than it reveals. He is due to hold a video conference with Hollande, the Italian prime minister, Mario Monti, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, on Thursday afternoon to discuss the economic crisis, and a joint European approach at the two-day G8 summit over the weekend. President Obama, in separate bilateral talks with Hollande ahead of the Cameron meeting in Washington, will try to tease out the detail of some of the commitments made by his French counterpart. During the Anglo-French talks, Cameron is expected to press Hollande on his pledge to withdraw French troops from Afghanistan two years ahead of Nato's planned timetable of 2014. With 3,400 personnel, France has the fifth-biggest contingent on the ground, and British and US leaders are said to want Hollande to delay the withdrawal until at least 2013. Under the Nato agreement the Afghanistan campaign ends in 2014, although most combat operations are to be wound down by the middle of next year and responsibility for security transferred to Afghan forces. During that interim period, US and Nato forces will act primarily as trainers for Afghan troops. Americans have already been in Paris to discuss what the French Socialists mean by Hollande's campaign claim "our Mission in Afghanistan is complete." The new president has said one of his first acts will be to tell world leaders France is pulling out. The G8 summit is followed immediately by a Nato summit in Chicago. Sarkozy had already promised to bring forward French withdrawal to the end of 2013 following the killing earlier this year of five French soldiers by a rogue member of Afghan security forces. The original timetable was agreed at a Nato summit in London in 2010. Cameron and the US are likely to argue the French troops could remain in a non-combat role, but it is unclear whether the French are even willing to stay as trainers of the Afghan army, one of the critical tasks ahead of the final pullout. There is doubt being expressed that the French would actually find it practical to complete a withdrawal, including of equipment, by the end of this year, partly due to a lack of transport. Hollande, who faces French parliamentary elections in June, is under pressure to deliver on his campaign promises, especially since Sarkozy, who was personally unpopular, will no longer be a campaign issue. Cameron and Hollande are also expected to discuss Syria Iran and Libya, the scene of a successful Anglo French military operation a year ago. Obama is also pressing international partners reluctant to contribute up to $1.3bn of the estimated $4bn annual cost of providing support to Afghan forces beyond 2014. The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, won major financial commitments from Merkel on Wednesday, but is looking for cash from European governments at a time when money is being dedicated to Europe's own problems.