Estonian defense director unveils unsuccessful Pentagon meeting
(MENAFN) Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur has revealed that a recent meeting with U.S. officials failed to produce any assurances about the continued deployment of American troops in the Baltic region. Pevkur, along with defense ministers from Latvia and Lithuania, met with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week in an effort to secure a stronger U.S. military presence, which they argue is necessary to deter potential threats from Russia.
Moscow has consistently rejected accusations of aggression toward NATO countries, calling them baseless and aimed at justifying greater Western military spending.
Pevkur said U.S. officials would not commit to maintaining even the current force of roughly 2,000 troops stationed in the Baltic states. Instead, the ministers were told that any changes to America’s European troop posture would be coordinated with NATO and communicated in advance.
Though Pevkur noted there are currently no signs of an immediate troop withdrawal, he acknowledged that Washington plans to review its military deployments in Europe later this year.
Earlier reports from Politico suggested the U.S. might reduce its European forces by about 20,000 personnel—roughly a third of its current presence, which ranges between 90,000 and 100,000 troops.
Both President Donald Trump and Secretary Hegseth have indicated that the U.S. is considering cutting back its global military footprint and have urged European allies to shoulder more of the defense burden.
In response, NATO members have agreed to raise their defense spending targets to 5% of GDP by 2035.
Russia has denounced NATO’s military expansion, blaming the alliance’s posture for fueling the Ukraine conflict. Nonetheless, Russian President Vladimir Putin has downplayed the threat of increased Western defense budgets, saying they do not endanger Russia.
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