As part of the decision to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany, the Pentagon will review its plan to deploy a battalion equipped with long-range weapons. This puts the deployment of Tomahawk missiles at risk.
Details
The Financial Times reported this. Earlier, the Pentagon said the United States plans to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany over the coming year. Germany hosts the largest number of US troops in Europe and is home to major American military facilities.
On May 2, Donald Trump said the withdrawal could be only the beginning.
“We are going to cut way down, and we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000,” Trump said.
The reduction threatens the deployment of long-range weapons, including Tomahawk missiles, which help NATO deter Russia. A Pentagon official said Washington is considering scrapping Joe Biden’s decision to deploy a long-range fires battalion in the EU’s largest country.
According to Christian Mölling, director of the Berlin-based think tank Edina, the rotation of US troops in Germany was a “less of a problem”. He compared it to cancelling the deployment of long-range strike capabilities.
“The first we can compensate for – but on long-range strikes we have a capability gap. Every time Trump says something like this, if you’re sitting in the Kremlin, you think it’s less likely that the Americans are coming to help within Nato,” Mölling said.
Context
The backdrop to the troop withdrawal is Trump’s dissatisfaction with European countries over their lack of support for his operation against Iran. This has already led to tensions between Trump and Friedrich Merz.
Merz said Tehran is humiliating the United States and argued that Washington lacks a clear strategy, particularly regarding negotiations. On April 30, Trump began reviewing the US military presence in Germany. He wrote on social media that Merz “should spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine . . . and fixing his broken Country.”
The dispute between US and German officials has raised concerns about a strategic rift. If prolonged, it could become an even greater challenge for NATO. On April 30, Trump also mentioned possible plans to withdraw troops from Italy and Spain. Senior US officials Roger Wicker and Mike Rogers warned that “prematurely reducing America’s forward presence in Europe risks undermining deterrence and sending the wrong signal to Vladimir Putin.”
They argued it would be in the US interest to maintain deterrence in Europe by relocating those 5,000 troops eastward. US could do that instead of withdrawing them from the continent.
Earlier, The Ukrainian Review reported that Washington had informed allies it would temporarily halt weapons deliveries due to shortages caused by the war against Iran. The delays are expected to affect Ukraine as well.
