European leaders meeting in Yerevan, Armenia on Monday tried to contain the political fallout from President Donald Trump’s surprise decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Germany while using the moment to press the case for a bigger European role inside NATO. The Pentagon announced last week that it would pull some 5,000 troops out of Germany, but Trump told reporters Saturday that the U.S. plans on “cutting a lot further,” without offering a reason for the move.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said he did not see the troop-reduction figures as dramatic, while arguing that the issue should be handled “in a harmonious way inside the framework of NATO.” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also said, “there needs to be a stronger European element in NATO,” adding that he had “no doubt about that,” as the summit brought together about 30 European leaders plus Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Trump’s timing came as a surprise, even though there has been “talk about withdrawal of U.S. troops for a long time from Europe.” When asked whether she believed Trump was trying to punish German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Kallas said she did not know Trump’s intent, saying, “I don’t see into the head of President Trump, so he has to explain it himself.” Merz did not attend the European Political Community summit, according to the report.
Inside Germany, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin had not yet received “official confirmation of when and how this is supposed to happen, on what scale,” referring to the proposed U.S. troop reductions. Pistorius added that the planned reduction of U.S. forces “would not put into question NATO’s deterrence capability,” even as European countries and Canada have increased defense spending and stepped up military recruitment efforts over the last year in response to Trump’s warnings about allies’ future defense responsibilities.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte echoed the effort to play down the immediate impact of fewer U.S. troops in Germany, while acknowledging broader strain tied to U.S. expectations. The report said Rutte sought to downplay the significance of the reductions but acknowledged U.S. “disappointment” about the level of European support for the Iran war. A NATO spokesperson, Allison Hart, said over the weekend that alliance officials were working with the U.S. to understand the details of the decision on force posture in Germany.
The summit took place amid tensions within NATO that have grown since Trump returned to office last year with warnings that European allies would have to defend themselves and Ukraine in the future. It also coincided with deadlock in talks aimed at ending the Iran war, now in its fourth year, as the U.S. has focused on Iran.
Rutte also pointed to European planning aimed at anticipating what the “next phase” could look like if U.S.-Iran talks do not hold. He said European nations “have decided to pre-position assets, key assets, close to the theater for the next phase,” and provided no additional details. French President Emmanuel Macron said European leaders have insisted their countries would not help police the Strait of Hormuz, a major energy trade route, until the war is over, while he said, “If the United States is ready to reopen Hormuz, that’s great. That’s what we’ve been asking for since the beginning,” adding that Europeans were not ready to get involved in any operation “that does not seem clear.”
The report also said European governments had been aware earlier in the year that some U.S. troops would be reduced in Europe, including some withdrawals from Romania in October, but U.S. officials had pledged to coordinate moves with NATO allies to avoid a security vacuum. It further said France and the U.K. have given U.S. forces limited use of bases on their territories to attack Iran, while Spain has denied U.S. forces access to its airspace and bases, underscoring how quickly operational cooperation could run into political limits.