The United States and its allies in NATO finalized agreements on Wednesday to wind down the war in Afghanistan, paving the way for President Obama to announce at a NATO summit meeting in Chicago next month that the unpopular, nearly 11-year-old conflict is close to an end.But many of the most critical details remained unresolved, chief among them who would pay billions of dollars a year to support the Afghan security forces.

After a day of meetings at NATO headquarters here in Brussels, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said the allies had formalized three crucial commitments: to gradually move the Afghans into a lead combat role; to keep some international troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014, the year American forces are supposed to be home; and to pay billions of dollars a year to help support the Afghan security forces.

Although Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Panetta sought to display American and NATO solidarity, there was a great sense of war weariness here, as the NATO meetings on Afghanistan have now entered their second decade. Major concerns also remain over attacks like those mounted by the Haqqani network of the Taliban on Sunday, when dozens of attackers crossed hundreds of miles to strike at seven secured targets.

Mrs. Clinton characterized the attacks as part of the inevitable “setbacks and bad days,” and she praised the Afghan security forces’ response as “fast and effective.” Nonetheless, questions intensified about who was actually going to pay for the forces. One thing was clear: The Afghans cannot afford the $4 billion a year that is expected to be needed to support their own army and police force.

The $4 billion in spending is for after 2014, when the Afghan security forces are expected to shrink to 230,000 members, down from a peak of 352,000 they are to reach this year. American officials have acknowledged that the reduction is driven largely by financial constraints on Afghanistan and its allies. The United States and its partners now spend about $6 billion a year on Afghanistan’s security forces.

President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan threw a wrench into the deliberations over the cost of the security forces on Tuesday when he said in Kabul that he wanted a written commitment of $2 billion a year from the United States. Mr. Panetta quickly batted that aside. “You have to deal with Congress when it comes to what funds are going to be provided,” he said. “And we don’t have the power to lock in money for the Afghans.”

Also unresolved at the NATO meetings was how many international troops, both from the United States and its allies, would remain in Afghanistan after 2014. American officials and Mr. Karzai say they are committed to having United States forces there, but their number and role have to be negotiated.

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