BRUSSELS — Washington told allies it will gradually scale down the number of strategic bombers, fighter jets, drones, submarines and warships dedicated to NATO as it continues pressing Europe to do more for its own defense.
The announcement was made in a closed-door meeting of NATO policy directors on Friday by Pentagon adviser Alexander Velez-Green, according to two alliance diplomats who were granted anonymity to speak freely.
The reductions reflect a long-running effort by U.S. President Donald Trump to pare back America’s role in an alliance he has repeatedly criticized as useless to Washington. It also underscores the administration’s military pivot toward other regions, like the Indo-Pacific.
Trump has dismayed European allies by announcing he would pull 5,000 troops out of Germany, which later turned out to include 4,000 soldiers from Poland — before U-turning and saying he would deploy an additional 5,000 troops to Poland.
The exact nature of the cutbacks is not yet finalized, the diplomats said, and the U.S. did not attach any timelines to the reductions. Washington also reassured allies there would be no changes to its nuclear deterrence, they added.
The meeting did “not [give] exhaustive details … but it is much clearer now,” said a third NATO diplomat, also granted anonymity to speak freely. “It will depend on the capacity of the others to come in with alternatives … some are not touched, others go completely, others can go to one-half or one-third.”
“The timeline is more complicated because it is linked with the credibility of deterrence and defense,” they said. “That said, everything is not yet definitely decided, even in the U.S.”
European allies and the U.S. are likely to discuss the issue further at NATO’s Force Generation conference next month, the two diplomats said. That is a meeting where national military planners define the capabilities they can offer the alliance, and under what conditions.
Under NATO's Force Model system, alliance members periodically identify the soldiers and equipment they will commit to NATO operations — making them available to the alliance’s top commander in the event of a war. The specifics are a closely-guarded secret, but Washington now wants to scale back those commitments.
Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank, said the reductions would create gaps that would be particularly difficult to fill rapidly for some types of military assets, including submarines and strategic bombers.
But European allies should not seek to replace them like-for-like, she argued. “The important thing with these U.S. withdrawals is not that Europe matches what is lost but [that] Europe figures out what it really needs to defend itself and procure those capabilities,” Kavanagh said. “Across the board Europe can do this within five years.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio made clear to fellow NATO foreign ministers on Friday that further American troop and weapons drawdowns were on their way — while reassuring them that this would be done in a coordinated fashion.
“It’s well understood in the alliance that the United States troop presence in Europe is going to be adjusted — that work was already ongoing, and it’s been done in coordination with our allies,” Rubio told reporters in the Swedish city of Helsingborg. “I’m not saying they’re going to be thrilled about it, but they certainly are aware.”
NATO spokesperson Allison Hart told POLITICO that "there has been an over-reliance on US forces and capabilities" by the alliance, adding: "But as Europe and Canada are investing more in defence and developing more capabilities, the balance of responsibility can shift."
"This change strengthens NATO’s defence plans by reducing over-dependence on one (LOL MORE LIKE YOUR ONLY) ally and is a reflection of a broader shift happening within the alliance," she said.
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