NATO secretary general confirms US plans to 'immediately' reduce troops in Europe

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that the reduction in the number of US troops in Europe will begin "immediately," but expressed hope that in case of war, the US will do "maximum" to protect the EU.

"It is necessary to clearly understand that the NATO force configuration is a planning tool. What the US stated, and NATO knew that this would happen, since the US must act in many theaters and should not spread its resources thin, and it was announced earlier that they would slightly reduce their participation in the NATO force configuration [in Europe]. The question that was asked yesterday [as part of the Group of Seven summit in France] is whether this will happen immediately. And yes, it will happen immediately," Rutte told journalists before a meeting of alliance defense ministers.

Rutte noted that "in reality, if war breaks out and Article 5 is invoked," then "all NATO countries, including the US, will do the maximum possible to ensure that NATO can wage war."

For this reason, the alliance secretary general emphasized, "at the NATO planning level, it must take into account the fact that the US is reducing its participation," but "Europeans are now filling this space," by increasing their armies. According to him, some EU countries "are already doing this, some are preparing."

Source: TASS