US may pull 10,000 troops from eastern Europe

US may pull 10,000 troops from eastern Europe
by AFP Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) April 8, 2025

The United States could withdraw 10,000 troops from eastern Europe, NBC News reported Tuesday, in a move some analysts fear would embolden Russia.

About 20,000 extra troops were deployed to the region in 2022 under then-president Joe Biden, reinforcing NATO's eastern flank after Russia invaded Ukraine.

NBC quoted six US and European officials as confirmidiscussions about halving the deployment by cutting numbers in Romania and Poland.

President Donald Trump is pushing for a speedy end to the more than three-year war in Ukraine since taking office but has failed to reach a breakthrough.

He has repeatedly criticized NATO, and insisted that Europe take more responsibility for its defense by boosting military spending and taking the lead in arming Ukraine.

But when asked during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday if there were plans to change the US military footprint in eastern Europe, General Christopher Cavoli indicated that there were not.

"The principal locations where we have forces right now, that's where they are, and that's where I'm planning to keep them," Cavoli -- the head of US European Command -- told lawmakers.

Any downsizing of US forces would increase President Vladimir Putin's "willingness to meddle in various ways across the spectrum in Europe," Seth Jones, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told NBC.

About 100,000 American troops are currently stationed in Europe, with 65,000 based permanently on the continent, while the rest are rotating staff and reinforcements.

Poland plays down US troop withdrawal fears
Warsaw (AFP) April 8, 2025 - Poland on Tuesday insisted US troops would remain on its territory, after the United States announced it would reposition personnel from a key base near the Ukrainian border.

US troops have been in Jasionka in southeastern Poland since just before Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.

Most military aid to Kyiv passes through EU member state Poland, a NATO member and staunch Ukraine supporter, and in particular its Jasionka hub.

The US army announced on Monday that "the planned repositioning of US military equipment and personnel from Jasionka, Poland, to other sites in the country".

"The decision to reposition troops and equipment reflects months of assessment and planning, coordinated closely with Polish hosts and NATO Allies," US Army Europe and Africa's public affairs office said in the statement.

The army did not specify how many troops will leave Jasionka nor where they will move to.

Polish President Andrzej Duda insisted on Tuesday that the move was "not a withdrawal of the army" while Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz also sought to reassure Poles of the continued US presence.

"US troops will stay in Poland, but in other locations," he said on social network X.

"The tasks shouldered by US troops in Jasionka until now are being taken over by other allies," he added.

Kosiniak-Kamysz said that NATO "is taking over responsibility for Jasionka's operations" and that the decision was made at the defence alliance's Washington summit in July 2024.

Some 10,000 American soldiers are currently on rotation in Poland.