Defense minister Pete Hegseeth Warned Europeans this week that “realities” prevent the US from being security guarantee and expecting a signing of American troops in the region.
“We focus on the safety of our own boundaries. We are also confronted with a peer competitor in the communist Chinese with the ability and intention of threatening our home country and the core of national interests in Indo-Pacific,” ” Hegseth told a meeting of a Ukraine defense contact group in Belgium on Wednesday.
“The US prioritizing the scare of the war With China In the Pacific. Recognizing the reality of scarcity and making the considerations of the means to ensure that deterrence does not fail. Defraction cannot fail.“
This was the first trip from Hegseeth to the NATO alliance head office.
Hegseeth prohibits future trans -soldiers, makes major changes for current
Defense secretary Pete Hegseeth, center, participates in physical training with the 1st battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), a battalion of the US Army in Stuttgart, Germany. (Defsec Hegseeth on X)
The US Minister of Defense called on Europe to ‘take ownership of conventional safety on the continent’.
“European allies must lead from the front,” he continued. “Together we can create a division of labor that maximizes our comparative benefits in Europe and the Pacific.”
Hegseeth said on Tuesday that the US has no active plans to deduct troops in Europe, but will continue to analyze American troop functions around the world. Speaking at US Africa Command Headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, he said that the US is committed to being present in Europe, as he emphasizes that the continent should not rely on that presence for safety.
“We focus on the safety of our own borders. We are also confronted with a peer competitor in the communist Chinese with the ability and intention of threatening our home country and the national core interests in the Indo-Pacific,” said Minister of Defense Pete Hegseeth. (Defsec Hegseeth on X)
“The European continent deserves to be free from aggression, but it should be those in the neighborhood who invest most in that defense,” he said. “That is common sense. You defend your neighborhood and the Americans will come next to you to help with that defense. “
About 100,000 American troops are deployed throughout EuropeOf which is about a third in Germany, according to the figures from the Ministry of Defense. About 375,000 American troops are assigned to the Indo-Pacific command.
During his first term, president Donald Trump Started to draw thousands of troops from Europe.
Under the Trump government, the US began to strengthen its presence on the southern border. About 1500 more American troops that were used to the southern border last week, which brought it to 3,600 to 3,600.
The German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius, British Minister of Defense John Healey, US Minister of Defense Pete Hegseeth, NATO -Secretary General Mark Rutte and the Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov of Ukraine Wonen a meeting of the Ukrainian defense contact group. (Reuters/Johanna Geron)
Hegseeth also said that all European peace forces are sent to help Ukraine win the war against Russia, should not be from the North Atlantic Convention Organization (NATO) and not be protected on the basis of Article 5, a provision that attack on One NATO country is attack on everyone.
The Minister of Defense said that the US does not believe that allowing Ukraine in NATO is a “realistic outcome of a negotiated scheme”.
Hegseeth also called NATO countries to perform after Trump recently called them to increase defense expenditure to 5%.
“The United States will no longer tolerate an unbalanced relationship that encourages dependence.”
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Earlier this week, the Ukrainian president Voldymyr Zenskyy suggested that Ukraine security guarantees without the US are ‘not real security guarantees’.
“There are voices that say that Europe could offer security guarantees without the Americans, and I always say no,” he told The Guardian. “Security guarantees without America are not real security guarantees.”
