That's why our message to our European allies is so sharp. Now it's high time to invest, you can't rely on the US presence being forever, he says at a press conference in Warsaw.
Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius says on Friday that it would be difficult for Europe to replace American soldiers in Europe.
We would need to compensate for what the Americans do less of in Europe, he says in connection with the security conference in Munich.
But it can't be done overnight.
Since US President Donald Trump earlier in the week agreed with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to initiate talks on ending the Ukraine war, concern has grown in several parts of Europe that such a peace would come on Russian terms. The question dominates the weekend's security conference.
Earlier on Friday, the conference chairman Christoph Heusgen told German radio that he suspects that US Vice President JD Vance, who is present in Munich, will announce that a large part of the American forces will be withdrawn from Europe.
