Europe Urges US To Avoid Shock Withdrawal Of Troops

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – European allies are urging the United States to coordinate its plans to reduce thousands of troops from Europe amid concerns it could leave the continent vulnerable to attacks from Russia and other nations.

U.S. sources say the administration of President Donald J. Trump is considering pulling as many as 10,000 troops out of Eastern Europe, the area facing most threats from Moscow.

Before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S. had reportedly some 65,000 personnel based in Europe, which peaked at as many as 100,000 after the war broke out.

European officials said they have “accepted” that President Trump will likely withdraw thousands of the roughly 80,000 American forces currently in Europe.

Among these countries are Eastern European nations that were occupied for decades by Russian forces before they withdrew in the early 1990s, several sources confirmed.

Many are now part of the NATO military alliance, seen as the best guarantee against possible Russian aggression.

Senior NATO diplomats in Europe have reportedly agreed that the “burden shift” is necessary.

COMMITMENT REQUESTED

Yet, in return, they want “a commitment” from the U.S. “to communicate in advance” about any pullout of troops to allow Europe to prepare for more military tasks.

Bloomberg News, monitored by Worthy News, quoted a German diplomat as saying that allies expected the U.S. military withdrawals to be announced earlier, such as during Vice President JD Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference in February.

NATO’s foreign ministers welcomed U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the alliance’s headquarters last week, Bloomberg News reported. Europeans “sought to reassure” him that they are increasing work on their own defense and ramping up military spending—a key demand from Trump.

Yet despite coordination, Eastern European leaders appeared unable Wednesday to prevent a massive U.S. military pullout from Europe, with attention shifting toward China and other hotspots in Asia and the Middle East.

It was not immediately clear how a possible withdrawal could impact Ukraine’s war against Russia.

A senior U.S. security diplomat has told Worthy News that U.S. forces have been in Ukraine, though the White House has in the past denied combat forces are in the country.

As more U.S. forces from Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenzkyy made clear Wednesday that his military will need more American weapons to fight invading Russian troops.

PAYING BILLIONS

However, in a policy shift, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his war-torn nation is willing to buy the next tranche of military assistance from the United States.

Ukraine has requested aid from Washington worth $30 billion to $50 billion, and it’s willing to pay for it – “either directly to the U.S. or as a contribution to the joint mineral deal fund, which is yet to be created,” Zelenskyy told reporters in the capital Kyiv.

“We did not ask for the next package free of charge,” Zelenskyy stressed.

Trump seeks a deal with Kyiv to share future profits from Ukrainian minerals, which he views “as compensation for the tens of billions of dollars in assistance” given to Ukraine since the start of the war more than three years ago.

Kyiv reportedly seeks a more significant U.S. investment as part of any agreement amid concerns that giving Washington vast privileges could complicate its bid to join the European Union. It also wants U.S. “security guarantees” that Trump has so far refused to provide.

(With reporting by the Worthy News Europe Bureau in Budapest, Hungary.)

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