Trump's Demand On Defense Spending Risks Bringing NATO Allies To Ruin - Russian Official

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th August, 2020) US President Donald Trump's demands that NATO allies increase defense spending is against the notion of the Transatlantic partnership and risks bankrupting Europe, the deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council told Sputnik.

"What kind of solidarity demands partners to bankrupt their people... Germans had diligently paid for US soldiers' upkeep on their soil for decades but refused to increase military spending and buy more US weapons. The White House punished them by withdrawing the troops," Alexander Venediktov said.

The Pentagon confirmed in July that US military presence in Germany would be reduced by 12,000 troops to 24,000, after President Trump accused the NATO ally of not paying its bills. Germany's Finance Ministry reportedly estimated it had paid roughly $1 billion in the past decade on costs related to US troops, 16 times less than what the US paid.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said 5,600 German-based troops would remain in Europe. Some of them will be moved to Belgium and Italy. The remaining 6,400 will return to the US, although Esper said this did not mean US presence in Europe would be scale down.

More troops will be rotated farther east on the continent, with an additional 1,000 troops expected to be stationed in Poland, which has volunteered to host and pay for the forces moved out of Germany.

Venediktov argued that the US ignoring Poland's offer to house German-based troops was not how allies behaved. "The US has brought a part of its forces home, while the rest are being moved to Belgium and Italy. Poland got nothing. So much for being allies," he said.