Afghan President Hamid Karzai is scheduled to leave Monday for Washington to hold talks with President Barack Obama.

U.S. State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland said Thursday “there's a lot to talk about” during Mr. Karzai's visit.

She said the discussions are expected to touch on everything from post-2014 U.S. military and financial assistance to wider regional security issues. Officials in both countries hope the meeting will smooth the way for a U.S. drawdown after more than a decade of war, while preserving hard-won security gains.

U.S. and Afghan officials have been holding talks on the scope of the American presence in the country after the international combat mission ends in 2014.

About 68,000 U.S. troops remain in the country. Military officials have called for keeping as many as 15,000 troops in Afghanistan, but other U.S. officials have called for a smaller force.