U.S. troops in Latvia<\/p>\n
Senior Defense Department\u00a0officials are considering a proposal\u00a0to withdraw as many as 10,000 troops from Eastern Europe, sparking concern on both continents that it would\u00a0embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/a>,\u00a0according to six U.S. and European officials who have been briefed on the matter.<\/p>\n The units under consideration are part of the 20,000 personnel the Biden administration deployed in 2022 to\u00a0strengthen the defenses of countries bordering Ukraine<\/a> after the Russian invasion. The numbers are still being discussed, but the proposal could involve removing up to half of the forces sent by Biden.<\/p>\n Internal discussions about reducing American troop levels in Romania and Poland\u00a0come\u00a0at a time when President Donald Trump is trying to persuade Putin to\u00a0agree to a ceasefire<\/a>.<\/p>\n The six U.S. and European officials, all of whom requested anonymity, described multiple details of the proposal that have not been previously reported to NBC News. If the Pentagon adopts the proposal, it will reinforce fears that the United States is abandoning its longtime allies in Europe who view Russia as a growing threat, European officials said.<\/p>\n Russian officials would \u201cassess a downsizing of U.S. forces as a weakening of deterrence, and it will increase their willingness to meddle in various ways across the spectrum in Europe,\u201d said Seth Jones, a senior vice president with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has made it clear that it wants European allies to take more responsibility for their own defense, allowing the United States to focus its military resources on China and other priorities.<\/p>\n In his first trip abroad as defense secretary, Pete Hegseth said<\/a>\u00a0in a speech in Brussels in February that \u201cstark strategic realities prevent the United States of America from being primarily focused on the\u00a0security of Europe<\/a>.\u201d Instead, the United States would focus on securing its southern border and countering China, he said.<\/p>\n Elbridge Colby, whom the Senate is expected to confirm soon to be the Pentagon\u2019s top policy\u00a0adviser\u00a0and No. 3 official, has called for a greater focus on China. Colby has argued against devoting more resources to\u00a0Ukraine and called for reductions in the number of troops in Europe in favor of focusing on the threat from China.<\/p>\n Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, appeared to criticize that approach at a hearing Thursday. \u201cThere are some who believe now is the time to reduce drastically our military footprint in Europe,\u201d\u00a0Wicker said, without providing any details.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m troubled at those deeply misguided and dangerous views held by some midlevel bureaucrats within the Defense Department,\u201d he added, without identifying the officials. \u201cThey\u2019ve been working to pursue a U.S. retreat from Europe, and they\u2019ve often been doing so without coordinating with the secretary of defense.\u201d<\/p>\n A Pentagon spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.\u00a0The Army declined to comment.<\/p>\n \u201cThe President is constantly reviewing deployments and priorities to make sure he keeps America First,\u201d National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement to NBC News.<\/p>\n As the Pentagon undergoes budget cuts under Trump, shrinking the U.S. military\u2019s footprint in Europe would free up resources, potentially for the Indo-Pacific region, which administration officials have said they see as a higher strategic priority. Canceling the deployment of combat units to Eastern Europe could also save money for the Army, which is trying to boost investments in innovative equipment and weapons.<\/p>\n Roughly\u00a080,000 American troops<\/a>\u00a0are stationed in Europe. After Russia launched the war, lawmakers from both parties backed a strong U.S. military presence along NATO\u2019s eastern flank, seeing it as an important signal to Putin that the United States remains committed to the defense of those border states.<\/p>\n But Trump campaigned on a promise to end the war quickly and is now pushing for a ceasefire. He has taken a\u00a0very different stance toward Ukraine<\/a>\u00a0from that of Biden, who vowed to provide weapons and other aid to Kyiv \u201cas long as it takes\u201d to prevail.<\/p>\n Trump has pressed Ukraine to make concessions upfront. He suspended military and intelligence assistance for a week after a public clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and he has made no specific commitment about future U.S. military aid.<\/p>\n Ben Hodges, a retired three-star general who oversaw the Army in Europe, said he wondered what kind of analysis was done to lead officials to consider the proposal to withdraw troops in the region.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll have a lot less deterrent capability,\u201d Hodges said. \u201cNow Poland obviously is growing its capability, the Romanians are, other European countries are, but that\u2019ll be a hole that\u2019ll have to be filled.\u201d<\/p>\n Russia is pursuing a major rebuilding and reform of its military, including modernizing equipment and ratcheting up weapons production, according to a Danish intelligence assessment<\/a>\u00a0released in February.<\/p>\n If the war in Ukraine ends or is frozen in a ceasefire arrangement, Russia could be capable of waging a large-scale war in Eastern Europe within the next five years if NATO failed to bolster its defenses, the report said.<\/p>\n