Bing said the danger is that Congress is "so generous in support of our own forces today, it may not support the aid needed for progress in Afghanistan tomorrow". Some members of Congress are worried.
"We don't have to put up with the European Union's double standards anymore," he said, demanding the EU keep its word on visa-free travel for Turks, aid for migrants and progress in accession talks if it wants relations to improve.
Financial aid recipients are reviewed for progress at the end of each traditional semester of enrollment (Fall, Spring, Summer).
While a humanitarian deal to evacuate civilians from besieged areas of Homs and allow some aid deliveries had provided hope for progress, the two sides have not been able to agree on an agenda.
When it finally agreed, last September, to a set of principles that included getting rid of its nuclear programmes (a first public hint that it has dabbled with potentially bomb-useable uranium, as America insists, as well as plutonium) in return for security assurances and aid, America, South Korea, Japan, China and Russia may have hoped for progress at last.
The international development minister, Alan Duncan, said the aid – which will be delivered through agencies – would provide both immediate help and a "foundation for progress".
Her sails were designed more for steadying her when running with the wind abeam, than for aiding her progress through the water.
Whether Brand upsets or aids that progress, D'Antoni said, is up for debate.
The prospect of talks came amid a background of criticism that both the United States and South Korea were withholding aid for political reasons, tying it to progress in negotiations.
The leaders reaffirmed support for establishing an office in Qatar to aid in talks with Taliban delegates there, and set a six-month deadline for progress, officials said.
Aid work is about living and working with impoverished people to achieve their goals for progress.
