The G7 has offered plenty of bluster but little bite over the Afghanistan crisis – whatever Boris Johnson says

Joe Biden has insisted that the United States will stick to its 31 August deadline for pulling its troops out of Afghanistan. At a virtual meeting of the G7 on Tuesday, the US president offered little comfort to leaders, including Boris Johnson, who urged him to extend it. “The sooner we can finish the better,” Biden argued, citing the growing risk of a terror attack.

The outcome of the meeting again highlighted the UK’s impotence and its inability to influence its closest partner on the world stage. If the prime minister hoped bringing France and Germany to the table would put pressure on the president to rebuild bridges with allies alienated by America's unilateral withdrawal from Afghanistan, then he was disappointed.

It is true that Mr Biden had to take account of the Taliban’s warnings of “consequences” if the deadline is not met. But the US is once again doing what suits its interests: US forces who control Kabul’s military airport are confident they will evacuate those Americans and Afghans they wish to get out within the original deadline.

Tragically, the US pull-out will almost certainly come too soon for many Afghans who helped the UK operation in the country and are at risk of reprisals from its new rulers. Michelle Bachelet, the UN high commissioner for human rights, has received credible reports of serious violations by the Taliban, including “summary executions” of civilians and Afghan security forces who had surrendered. The G7 leaders rightly agreed to “judge the Afghan parties by their actions, not words”.

Naturally, Mr Johnson put the best gloss on the outcome of the G7 meeting, but it was thin. Speaking afterwards, he focused on what he called the group’s agreement on a roadmap for engaging with the Taliban. Mr Johnson said the G7 would use its “considerable leverage” – economic, diplomatic and political – to achieve its “number one condition” of guaranteed safe passage after 31 August for Afghans who want to leave the country. This was a tacit acceptance that Tuesday's deadline is highly unlikely to be changed. It is far from certain that the Taliban will guarantee such freedom; indeed, at a press briefing on Tuesday, they made it clear they would “not allow” any more of Afghan nationals to be evacuated after the end of this month.

The prime minister dangled the money carrot, saying funds could be unfrozen if the Taliban ensures the country does not again become a breeding ground for terrorism or a “narco state” from the heroin trade, and allows girls to continue their education to the age of 18. Although about $9bn of Afghan assets are frozen in bank accounts in America, the G7’s clout might be lighter than Mr Johnson suggested.

To be effective, such sanctions would need the backing of a much wider group of countries including China and Russia, who might be tempted to offer tacit backing to the new regime in Afghanistan in return for influence there. In that sense, it might have been better for Mr Johnson to have prioritised an agreement at the UN rather than the G7, since China and Russia are permanent members of the security council.

Financial penalties also carry risks: Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, floated the idea of cutting overseas aid to Afghanistan just days after the UK promised to double it. This could inflict more misery on the Afghan people by exacerbating an inevitable humanitarian and refugee crisis. While the G7 leaders promised to cooperate together, and with other countries in the region hosting refugees on “safe and legal routes for resettlement,” there were no new pledges to take more refugees, which will hardly encourage other nations to step up to the plate.

As the UN refugee agency has pointed out, countries have a duty to acknowledge the right for people to claim asylum even if they do not arrive by a legal route. Afghans who are already in the UK should be allowed to remain; they should not be criminalised or become the innocent victims of the government’s embarrassment over the record number of people crossing the English Channel in small boats. Mr Johnson's own actions should match his words about standing by the Afghan people.