BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO’s top military officer said Tuesday that he doesn’t expect any more drawdowns of American troops from Europe — at least not anytime soon — beyond the 5,000 that U.S. President Donald Trump announced would leave the continent.
The remarks by U.S. Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich follow Trump’s surprise announcement of the move early this month. The U.S. leader has bickered with allies over the Iran war and called for changes.
The Pentagon later said it would draw down thousands of troops in Europe by canceling deployments to Poland and Germany as opposed to yanking out forces already stationed there.
“It will be 5,000 troops coming out of Europe,” Grynkewich told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels, where top officers from across the 32-nation military organization were meeting. “lt’s all that I’m expecting in the near term.”
Trump was notably angry at Germany, after Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the United States was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticized what he called a lack of U.S. strategy in the war.
Initially it was thought that more cuts might be coming and Grynkewich’s remarks could allay those fears.
WATCH: Germany builds up its military to prepare for a potential future without U.S. support
Trump’s announcement blindsided NATO allies and came despite U.S. promises to coordinate military moves with its allies and avoid creating security gaps.
Some 4,000 troops from the Army’s 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division are no longer being deployed to Poland as planned, and the deployment to Germany of personnel trained to fire long-range rockets and missiles has been halted. Much of the detail is still being worked out.
Also, some U.S. troops from the brigade bound for Poland were told not to get on a plane to Europe shortly before departure, The Associated Press reported on Friday.
But about 1,000 soldiers and 1,700 pieces of equipment from that brigade had already arrived in Europe shortly before their deployment was canceled, a U.S. military official told The Associated Press on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss military deployments.
Grynkewich said that he spoke earlier in the day to military chiefs from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland about “some of the options and how we might array capabilities on the eastern flank,” along NATO’s border with Russia.
Concerns arise as to how Baltic states could be affected
The cancelation of U.S. troop deployment to Poland affects deployments to the Baltic states because some U.S. troops based in the Baltics, including Estonia, were supposed to come from the brigade meant to arrive in Poland, said Jonatan Vseviov, secretary-general at Estonia’s Foreign Ministry.
He described the development as “a hiccup,” but one which “in and of itself is not going to collapse NATO deterrence in the Baltic states.”
Alluding to the sudden decision to pull troops, Estonia’s Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur told Estonian media on Tuesday that “there is not much information,” about what is happening.
“What we do know is that U.S. forces are in Estonia, and will remain there,” he said, adding that, “no one has told me that any kind of lowering of the U.S. flag in Estonia is going to happen.”
Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys, told the AP that the deployment of 1,000 U.S. troops to Lithuania is also linked to the deployment of the canceled rotation. He said he viewed any issues connected to the deployment to be a “technical issue,” which hopefully will be resolved with U.S. troops remaining in Lithuania.
The U.S. military official said officials are looking at how to bridge any gaps in the Baltic nations with other forces that are already deployed in Europe.
Grynkewich insisted that security in Europe would not be compromised but warned European allies should expect more drawdowns in coming years.
“Over the long term, we absolutely should expect additional redeployments as Europe continues to build capability and capacity and step up to provide more of the conventional defense of Europe,” Grynkewich said.
“It’s going to be an ongoing process for several years,” he said, but added: “We’re going to stay well-synchronized with our allies moving forward.”
Burrows reported from Tallinn, Estonia.
