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NATO countries appeal to US not to withdraw troops from Europe without warning — Bloomberg

According to the sources, EU countries anticipate that the US withdraws at least 10,000 out of 80,000 US troops currently stationed in Europe

BRUSSELS, April 9. /TASS/. European NATO members have urged the US administration to warn them ahead of time in the event of a sharp reduction in the US military presence on the continent "to avoid destabilizing NATO defenses," Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources in European capitals.

According to the sources, EU countries anticipate that the US withdraws at least 10,000 out of 80,000 US troops currently stationed in Europe, including on the alliance’s eastern flank.

That said, the news agency itself insists that the number of US military personnel in Europe is constantly changing, with about 65,000 US troops stationed there before 2022, with their number increasing to 85,000 soon after the onset of the Ukrainian conflict and then peaking to as many as 100,000 for a short period of time. That said, Bloomberg does not rule out that US President Donald Trump may pull out the 20,000 additional soldiers that former President Joe Biden deployed to Eastern Europe immediately following the onset of the Ukraine crisis.

The news agency also quoted European officials as saying that "with some of the normal channels of communication breaking down due to the upheaval Trump has brought to Washington, Europeans feared that they would have no prior warning on such decisions and would instead learn from the media that thousands of US servicemen were being withdrawn."

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United States NATO

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