NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said there are no plans to withdraw US troops from Europe, amid Washington's announcement in May of talks to reduce the US military presence in Europe.
The Guardian reports.
Rutte was asked about speculation that the US could withdraw some of its troops from Europe. He insisted that "there are no plans to withdraw US troops at this time" and reiterated that the US is "fully committed to NATO".
"They (the US - ed.) expect European and Canadian allies to spend much more... so we have to increase spending first of all, because we have to achieve all the capability goals and close the gaps that we still have to be sure that we can also fight the russians if they try to attack us in three to five years, and also to be on par with the United States. And I think that is fair," he said.
Recall that in mid-May, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said that the US and its European NATO allies would begin negotiations on reducing the US military contingent in Europe by the end of this year.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, meanwhile, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will not participate in the meeting of 50 defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels for the first time in three years to coordinate military assistance to Ukraine. The Pentagon says that the reason for this is scheduling problems.
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