NATO chief downplays Trump's statement on some of US troops withdrawal from Germany

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg downplayed the concerns over US President Donald Trump’s statement on pulling the troops stationed in Germany. Speaking at a pre-ministerial online press conference, NATO chief said that the US has not made a final decision on troops withdrawal and there isn’t any clarity on when such withdrawal would take place.

"The US has made it clear that no final decision has been made on how and when," said Stoltenberg told reporters.

On June 15, Trump said that he would cut the number of troops in Germany to 25,000, blaming the ally for failing in its commitments. All NATO members had set a goal in 2014 to spend at least 2 per cent of the GDP on defence by 2025 but Germany hopes to meet the target by 2031.

“We're putting the number down to 25,000 soldiers,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

Read: US President Trump Announces Major US Troop Cut In 'delinquent' Germany

'They treat us very badly'

Germany has hosted US military facilities for a long time and provided jumping-off point to the troops who were to be deployed in the Middle East. However, Trump stated that the US troops have helped boost the local economies with their personal spending and the decision was to punish Germany for being “delinquent”.

“Those are well-paid soldiers. They live in Germany. They spend vast amounts of money in Germany. Everywhere around those bases is very prosperous for Germany. So Germany takes, and then on top of it they treat us very badly on trade,” said Trump.

NATO chief said that he has spoken to Trump and has also been in contact with Germany after the issues emerged. He said that it is important to maintain credible deterrence and defence and a strong link between North America and Europe. Stoltenberg underlined that the US, in recent years, has increased its military presence in Europe and European allies are spending more on defence. In December 2019, NATO reported a rise in defence investment for the fifth consecutive year and allies, except the United States, have committed to spend $130 billion extra by the end of 2020.

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