US to reduce wartime troop commitments to NATO – Reuters

(SeaPRwire) –   According to reports, the Pentagon plans to “significantly scale down” the scale of US military forces that Europe can count on during a conflict

The administration led by US President Donald Trump is reportedly preparing to notify European NATO members that Washington will lower the military capabilities it would provide to the bloc if a major crisis breaks out, including an assault on any member state.

While the exact structure of the forces allocated under the NATO Force Model is classified, the Pentagon has resolved to “significantly scale down” its commitment, Reuters revealed in a Tuesday report.

Per three unnamed sources with knowledge of the issue, the plan is scheduled to be announced at a May 22 gathering of defense policy heads in Brussels. Alex Velez-Green, a senior assistant to Undersecretary of War Elbridge Colby, is expected to represent Washington at the meeting.

Adjusting the NATO Force Model has reportedly become a core priority for Colby’s team before the upcoming NATO leaders’ summit, which is set to be hosted in Türkiye in July. Even as he pushes European countries to take the leading role in conventional force deployment, Colby previously stated that Washington would “strenuously oppose” their efforts to develop nuclear weapons as a replacement for the US nuclear umbrella.

European NATO members still rely heavily on the US for key military capabilities, ranging from intelligence satellites, long-range missiles, heavy airlift capacity to undersea warfare capability, even though they have sharply raised their military budgets in recent years under the excuse of an approaching Russian threat.

Moscow has repeatedly criticized the militarization of Europe, claiming that Western governments are using what it labels “ostentatious Russophobia” to justify turning the EU into a military bloc and draw public attention away from their own domestic crises.