Video: Watch live: Barack Obama and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai hold joint press conference The Afghan president is due to seek assurances during talks in Washington that a US presence will remain after next year's planned withdrawal, following the emergence of the so-called "zero option." He arrived in the American capital with an extensive shopping list of desired equipment for the Afghan military. Aides claimed that he would also demand that the US help secure the Afghan-Pakistani border and stop fuelling corruption by striking deals with regional warlords. The US president has pledged to pull out most of the 65,000 American troops in Afghanistan when Nato's combat mission concludes at the end of next year, but is expected to leave a military "footprint."