BRUSSELS (AP) 鈥� NATO鈥檚 top military officer said Tuesday that he doesn’t expect any from Europe 鈥� at least not anytime soon 鈥� beyond the 5,000 that U.S. President 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 and .
The Pentagon later said it would draw down thousands of troops in Europe by as opposed to yanking out forces already stationed there.
鈥淚t will be 5,000 troops coming out of Europe,鈥� Grynkewich told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels, where top officers from across the 32-nation military organization were meeting. 鈥渓t鈥檚 all that I鈥檓 expecting in the near term.鈥�
Trump was notably angry at Germany, after said the United States was being 鈥渉umiliated鈥� by the Iranian leadership and criticized what he called a .
Initially it was thought that more cuts might be coming and Grynkewich鈥檚 remarks could allay those fears.
Trump鈥檚 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鈥檚 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 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 鈥渟ome 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鈥檚 Foreign Ministry.
He described the development as 鈥渁 hiccup,鈥� but one which 鈥渋n and of itself is not going to collapse NATO deterrence in the Baltic states.鈥�
Alluding to the sudden decision to pull troops, Estonia鈥檚 Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur told Estonian media on Tuesday that 鈥渢here is not much information,” about what is happening.
鈥淲hat we do know is that U.S. forces are in Estonia, and will remain there,” he said, adding that, 鈥渘o one has told me that any kind of lowering of the U.S. flag in Estonia is going to happen.鈥�
Lithuania鈥檚 Foreign Minister K臋stutis 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 鈥渢echnical issue,鈥� 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.
鈥淥ver 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,鈥� Grynkewich said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be an ongoing process for several years,鈥� he said, but added: 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to stay well-synchronized with our allies moving forward.”
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Burrows reported from Tallinn, Estonia.
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