The United States has dragged its NATO allies into an embarrassing mess they had warned against, bringing calls for more autonomy. But the price of independence is steep.

By Steven Erlanger

BRUSSELS — President Biden says he hears no criticism from America’s allies about the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and the collapse of the government. But the criticism in Europe, at least, is loud and persistent.

Officials from Britain, Germany, Italy and France have complained that despite Mr. Biden’s promises of consultation, there has been more diktat than conversation on Afghanistan. He is likely to hear more grumbling in an emergency videoconference call on Tuesday among the leaders of the Group of 7.

The latest fiasco in Kabul, following earlier U.S. missteps in Libya and Syria, not to speak of Iraq, has added greater urgency to a question that has dogged NATO virtually since the end of the Cold War, long before President Trump happened on the scene: Will there be any serious shift in the way the NATO alliance operates, with the United States leading and Europe following behind?

The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, has said that he will ask Mr. Biden during the G-7 call to keep Kabul airport open for evacuation flights past the original deadline of the end of the month, and this time Mr. Biden seems likely to agree.

But the allies’ demands for a “conditions-based withdrawal” were rejected by Mr. Biden, who insisted, perhaps a bit too hastily, on a firm deadline for leaving Afghanistan. No country stood up and said no, a senior NATO ambassador said.

Mr. Biden took office with a chance to reset relations with Europe after the trauma of the Trump years. While he has said almost all the right things on issues of trade and climate change, the Afghanistan fiasco has left many Europeans more convinced than ever that they cannot rely on the United States to look after their security interests — no matter who is occupying the White House.

Washington’s shift of foreign policy focus to countering the rising global influence of China has only deepened their anxieties.

During NATO’s summit meeting in June, which Mr. Biden attended, the president of the Czech Republic, Milos Zeman, called the decision to pull troops out of Afghanistan “a betrayal,” an official in the room later said. Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary-general, thanked him and moved on to the preferred American theme of challenging China.

Knowing that they could not replace the American military or remain in Afghanistan without U.S. troops, NATO allies largely left the withdrawal up to Washington. NATO had no evacuation coordination plan, and the rapid victory of the Taliban surprised and embarrassed everyone, with key NATO officials on summer vacation and no American ambassador in place.

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