LISBON Heads of NATO member states have gathered in Portuguese capital Lisbon for a two-day summit to decide on the alliances war strategy in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is scheduled to be among top priorities on the agenda of the summit that began Friday. A top alliance official said that security can be turned over to the Afghans by 2014. We think that goal is realistic, and we have made plans to achieve it, but of course if circumstances agree, it could be sooner, absolutely, said Mark Sedwill, NATOs top civilian representative in Afghanistan, while addressing a news conference in Lisbon. Responding to a question, he said Pakistani Army had made numerous sacrifices in the war on terror. The handover of Afghan security depends on the Pakistani Army taking control of its border areas. Peace in Afghanistan linked to Pakistan, he added. He said holding talks with Haqqani group is very tough as its the most dangerous group among the militants. Agencies adds: US President Barack Obama and his NATO allies met Friday to agree a plan to pass command of the Afghan war to Kabul by 2014 and erect an anti-missile shield over Europe. Leaders began a two-day summit in Lisbon dominated by war in Afghanistan and planning new defences against future foes. We will take decisions which will frame the future of our alliance, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told the leaders of the 28 allies. These decisions will reaffirm the shared commitment by all our countries to the freedom and security of our citizens, he continued. This commitment is the bedrock of our alliance and it is upheld every day by the more than 100,000 men and women who serve in NATO operations from Afghanistan to Kosovo and from the Horn of Africa to the Mediterranean sea. Earlier, Obama outlined his proposed timetable for pulling out the bulk of US forces from Afghanistan and handing control to local commanders. I look forward to working with our ... partners as we move towards a new phase, transition to Afghan responsibility, which begins in 2011, with Afghan forces taking the lead on security across Afghanistan by 2014, Obama said. More than 2,200 Allied troops have been killed in the nine-year-old war launched by the United States after the September 11, 2001 attacks to root out Al-Qaeda leaders and overthrow their Taliban protectors. And, in a sign that fighting may be about to get even fiercer, US Marines are about to deploy powerful M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks to the front line for the first time in the conflict. In several European newspapers, Obama wrote that Washington would start to reduce its troop numbers in Afghanistan in July next year but pledged that as Afghans stand up and take the lead, they will not stand alone. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called for Afghanistans fledgling government forces to be allowed to take charge of the campaign by 2014, allowing the bulk of the 150,000-strong US-led force to return home. I think hes expressing an authentic degree of frustration, an authentic concern that the Afghan people is less tolerant than it was back in 2002 and 2003 of the presence of international forces, a NATO official said. Therefore in that sense we are against the clock ... to bring this campaign to a successful conclusion, the official said. The war is also deeply unpopular with European voters, stiffening leaders resolve to move beyond Afghanistan and create a leaner command structure ready to counter any new missile or nuclear threats. The Lisbon summit has three distinct stages. First the 28 NATO powers will meet to thrash out their own strategic goals and agree a plan on missile defence. Then they will be joined by Karzai and the other allies who make up the 48-strong coalition in Afghanistan. Finally allied leaders will meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for the first NATO-Russia summit since 2002. The presidents, prime ministers and generals met in a white steel complex on the banks of the Tagus protected by at least 7,000 security officers as they focused a first session on a new strategic concept. A commitment to a new anti-missile system protecting soldiers and civilians across Europe is expected to be the big news from the meeting. Leaders will agree to set-up a network of radars and interceptors to form an anti-ballistic missile shield in the skies over Europe, and overcoming Russian concerns by inviting them to take part. Before leaving Moscow, the Russian party said it was keen to share ideas about common missile defence but played down the chances of a major decision realigning the continents security. Rasmussen has said he expects Russia and the Allies to begin a joint study of Russias possible inclusion in the missile defence system, which would be a remarkable U-turn by Moscow. Meanwhile, France and Germany have agreed a compromise on NATOs future as a nuclear-armed alliance, officials said Friday. Germany had wanted NATOs new strategic concept to commit the allies to a Europe free of nuclear weapons, while its neighbour France remains wedded to its independent deterrent as the bedrock of its security. But diplomatic sources at the summit said they had agreed a neutral form of words that satisfies both, by expressing hope for future disarmament while insisting that NATO would keep nuclear weapons as long as others do. An accord has been reached between France and Germany on the points under discussion, a French official said, speaking on condition of anonymity while the 28 NATO leaders met in closed-door session.