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 warfare on Ukraine rages on.
It comes after NBC Information reported Tuesday that the Pentagon was contemplating reducing as many as 10,000 troops from Europe amid the continuing warfare in Ukraine.
“You ought to be targeted on sustaining the surge posture that we’ve had in Europe because the battle was began by Russia for the foreseeable future,” Rogers advised Katherine Thompson, who’s the Pentagon’s appearing assistant secretary of protection for worldwide safety affairs.
“Pulling again prematurely would threat inviting additional Russian aggression, doubtlessly even towards NATO,” Rogers mentioned, including that he was “involved” 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 present reviewing its “drive posture” — or presence of troops all over the world — however mentioned no determination had been made on whether or not to chop troops from Europe.
Military Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, the pinnacle of US European Command, on the listening to testified that he wouldn’t counsel reducing any forces from Europe, highlighting Russia’s nuclear menace.
“Russia continues to have very highly effective strategic forces, hundreds of nuclear weapons, and the supply strategies to ship these these will not be pointed simply anywhere … they exist for America,” he mentioned. “And our protection towards these strategic forces, whether or not within the air or undersea, begins within the European continent.”
Whereas the Trump administration has been pushing for an finish to Russia’s warfare 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 proper to warn Putin that if he doesn’t begin negotiating in good religion, then the US will ratchet up strain and impose unprecedented sanctions,” Rogers mentioned. “As a result of, as President Trump is aware of, Putin solely respects energy, and he has acted accordingly.”
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