The US Department of Defense headquarters, the Pentagon, may withdraw around 10,000 soldiers from Eastern Europe, according to six anonymous American and European officials who have spoken to American NBC News.
The affected soldiers are said to be part of the 20,000 troops that Joe Biden's government sent to Europe in 2022, as part of strengthening the defense of Ukraine's neighboring countries after the full-scale Russian invasion. The matter is still under discussion, but according to the information, half of them may now be sent home.
The report comes at the same time as the US President Donald Trump is trying to get his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine.
According to NBC News, the European sources see the proposal as evidence that the US is now abandoning its long-standing allies in Europe – to Putin's advantage.
The Russians would see reduced American forces as a weakening of (Europe's) deterrent. It will increase their willingness to interfere in various ways in Europe, says Seth Jones at the think tank CSIS.
President Trump has repeatedly made it clear that the US wants Europe to take greater responsibility for its defense, so that the US can allocate more military resources to China and other areas.
