Trump has dismayed European allies by announcing he would pull 5,000 troops out of Germany, which later turned out to include 4,000 soldiers from Poland — before U-turning and saying he would deploy an additional 5,000 troops to Poland.
The exact nature of the cutbacks is not yet finalized, the diplomats said, and the U.S. did not attach any timelines to the reductions. Washington also reassured allies there would be no changes to its nuclear deterrence, they added.
The meeting did “not [give] exhaustive details … but it is much clearer now,” said a third NATO diplomat, also granted anonymity to speak freely. “It will depend on the capacity of the others to come in with alternatives … some are not touched, others go completely, others can go to one-half or one-third.”
“The timeline is more complicated because it is linked with the credibility of deterrence and defense,” they said. “That said, everything is not yet definitely decided, even in the U.S.”
European allies and the U.S. are likely to discuss the issue further at NATO’s Force Generation conference next month, the two diplomats said. That is a meeting where national military planners define the capabilities they can offer the alliance, and under what conditions.
Under NATO’s Force Model system, alliance members periodically identify the soldiers and equipment they will commit to NATO operations — making them available to the alliance’s top commander in the event of a war. The specifics are a closely-guarded secret, but Washington now wants to scale back those commitments.