NATO says the U.S. intends to reduce the presence of its military in Europe

The United States will not withdraw from NATO, but at the same time will reduce the presence of its military contingents in Europe, shifting the focus to the Indo-Pacific region. This was stated by the chairman of the NATO Military Committee Giuseppe Cavo Dragone on February 17.

He noted that about 100 thousand U.S. soldiers may leave Europe due to "certain U.S. commitments in the Pacific region". Washington will not withdraw its troops "in huge numbers" from the EU.

Dragone called on EU member states to increase defense spending. "There is a certain kind of imbalance, and we need to achieve a balance. The reduction of the U.S. presence in Europe should be accepted by NATO with an 'operational approach,'" he said in an interview with Bloomberg.

"NATO has destroyed security in Europe and is now taking on the Asia-Pacific"

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko on the alliance's dangerous plans in Asia, the peace agreement with Japan and uranium supplies to South Korea

Earlier, on February 7, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko noted in an interview with Izvestia that under the slogan of "indivisibility of the security of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific region," the United States and its allies are in practice "natoizing" the Asia-Pacific region.

Prior to that, on January 23, the ANSA news agency reported that US President Donald Trump intends to reduce the US military contingent in Europe by 20 thousand people. Trump bases his decision on the fact that the US troops in Europe are only a "deterrence tool", so the cost of their maintenance cannot be covered solely by the funds of US taxpayers, the agency reported.

Earlier, on January 21, Trump also announced his intention to get NATO countries to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP. He complained that the USA had spent $200bn more on military aid to Ukraine than other countries and said that they would have to "level the playing field".