On Saturday night, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed to Sputnik the department's decision to withdraw 5,000 American troops from Germany within 6-12 months. On Sunday, the media reported that the US would also reconsider its decision to station a battalion with long-range weapons in Germany.
If US President Donald Trump spontaneously withdraws other defense assets, it could lead to major and dangerous failures in the system of European security for years to come, the newspaper's sources said.
According to the publication, concerns in Europe have grown even greater that Washington would withdraw its weapons faster than Europeans could develop alternatives. According to the newspaper's sources, the Pentagon refused to provide NATO with a detailed schedule for the planned withdrawal of other defense assets from Europe, including air and missile defense systems and satellite reconnaissance data.
European countries have a number of cruise and ballistic missile projects, but many are "stuck" in the early design stages, the newspaper recalled.
Citing German officials, the newspaper also noted that NATO leaders would continue discussing how to prevent security failures at the July summit in Ankara.