WASHINGTON — Home Armed Companies Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) urged Pentagon officers on Tuesday to not proceed with rumored cuts to US forces in Europe as Russia’s conflict on Ukraine rages on.
It comes after NBC Information reported Tuesday that the Pentagon was contemplating chopping as many as 10,000 troops from Europe amid the continuing conflict in Ukraine.
“You should be focused on maintaining the surge posture that we’ve had in Europe since the conflict was started by Russia for the foreseeable future,” Rogers advised Katherine Thompson, who’s the Pentagon’s performing assistant secretary of protection for worldwide safety affairs.
“Pulling back prematurely would risk inviting further Russian aggression, potentially even against NATO,” Rogers stated, including that he was “concerned” Congress had not been consulted on its ideas relating to troops presence in Europe.
Rogers spoke at a listening to Tuesday reviewing US army operations on the continent, the place roughly 100,000 American troops are stationed or deployed. That quantity is up from 80,000 earlier than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Thompson acknowledged that the Protection Division is at the moment reviewing its “force posture” — or presence of troops all over the world — however stated no choice had been made on whether or not to chop troops from Europe.
Military Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, the top of US European Command, on the listening to testified that he wouldn’t recommend chopping any forces from Europe, highlighting Russia’s nuclear risk.
“Russia continues to have very powerful strategic forces, thousands of nuclear weapons, and the delivery methods to deliver those those are not pointed just any place … they exist for America,” he stated. “And our defense against those strategic forces, whether in the air or undersea, begins in the European continent.”
Whereas the Trump administration has been pushing for an finish to Russia’s conflict on Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to comply with proposed cease-fire agreements and talks stay ongoing between the US, Russia and Ukraine.
“President Trump was right to warn Putin that if he doesn’t start negotiating in good faith, then the US will ratchet up pressure and impose unprecedented sanctions,” Rogers stated. “Because, as President Trump knows, Putin only respects strength, and he has acted accordingly.”
