Joe Biden decided to freeze the withdrawal of the US military contingent from Germany, which was initiated by the Donald Trump administration in the summer of 2020.

This was announced by the adviser to the President of the United States for national security Jake Sullivan.

"Today he (Joe Biden. -

RT

) will announce that Secretary of Defense Austin will review the position of our forces in the world, and for the time of this analysis we will freeze any redeployment of troops from Germany," RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

Earlier, the US military command also announced its intention to suspend the reduction of the American military presence in Germany.

In particular, Tod Walters, Commander-in-Chief of the NATO Allied Forces in Europe, made a similar statement.

“Planning under the previous initiative has been put on hold so that the Secretary of Defense and the current administration can thoroughly review everything that happened before he took office,” Walters said during a press briefing.

He added that the new head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, is in the process of scrutinizing and revising this plan.

“At the moment, I can report that all these options for further actions are suspended and all of them will be reviewed,” - said Walters.

According to him, the new administration considers it necessary to conduct "a thorough and comprehensive check in all areas."

“After we're allowed to check, we'll go back to the drawing board,” Walters explained.

At the same time, he did not specify when the revision of the decision to reduce the American military contingent in Germany will be completed.

"No surprises"

Recall that in July last year, Trump ordered to reduce the American military contingent in Germany by 11.9 thousand troops, explaining that the republic's authorities were slow to increase defense spending.

“We don't want to be simpletons anymore.

We're cutting back because they don't pay their bills.

It's very simple, ”the 45th head of the White House said then.

As part of the withdrawal of troops, 6.4 thousand soldiers were to return to the United States, and about 5.6 thousand more people were planned to be relocated to Italy and Belgium.

In addition, it was planned to transfer the headquarters of the European command EUCOM from the German city of Stuttgart to the Belgian city of Mons for merging with the headquarters of the NATO military command located there.

About 25 thousand American soldiers and officers were to remain in Germany.

  • US Air Force General Tod Walters, Commander-in-Chief, NATO Allied Forces Europe

  • Reuters

  • © Ints Kalnins

The then head of the Pentagon, Mark Esper, noted that such a distribution of troops would help contain Russia.

This decision in the United States was criticized by both Democrats and Republicans.

In particular, Republican Senator Mitt Romney called him a slap in the face to his ally in the person of Germany and a gift from the Russian Federation.

However, with the coming to power of the administration of Democrat Joe Biden, Washington announced plans to reconsider this decision.

So, at the end of January, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that the new head of the department, Lloyd Austin, intends to give his own assessment of the actions of the Trump administration.

“He made it clear that he wants to analyze the overall configuration of the US forces deployed in the world.

He assured the FRG Minister of Defense that, regardless of the decision we made, it would be coordinated with her and with the German government.

No surprises, ”Kirby said.

At the same time, the US Department of Defense issued an official statement about a telephone conversation between Austin and German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, in which it was emphasized that the discussion of the deployment of American troops in Germany would continue.

"Defense Secretary Austin thanked Germany for continuing to serve as an excellent location for the US military and expressed a desire to continue the dialogue on their configuration in Germany," the statement said.

In turn, the German Ministry of Defense reported on Twitter that the United States views its military presence in Germany as an important part of the overall security of the two countries.

Back to the roots

Experts are inclined to believe that with the arrival of Democrat Biden in the White House, Washington will not only revise Trump's plans to withdraw troops, but will also strengthen its military presence in Europe.

“We can expect an increase in the US military presence in Europe during the administration of the 46th President.

His approach here is very different from Trump's position: the new American leader will bet on interaction with allies, liberal values, believing that such a policy can strengthen the West as a whole, and, consequently, stop the weakening of the power of the United States in the world, "he said in the conversation Konstantin Blokhin, researcher at the Center for Security Studies, RAS, with RT.

  • American military aircraft in Germany

  • Reuters

  • © Kai Pfaffenbach

Earlier, Joe Biden had a telephone conversation with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in which he reaffirmed Washington's adherence to the principle of collective defense, enshrined in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.

According to the White House, Biden informed Stoltenberg of his intention to consult and cooperate with allies on the entire spectrum of common security issues, including those concerning Russia.

Konstantin Blokhin believes that by resuming a dialogue with NATO and individual allies in Europe in the person of Germany, Biden is seeking to "cancel out all Trump's initiatives" and direct American foreign policy in its traditional direction.

“Undoubtedly, under Biden, the United States will try to improve relations with Germany, because this is one of the key directions of his policy to rehabilitate Euro-Atlantic ties, as well as an element of strengthening the concept of a world liberal order,” the expert says.

At the same time, he noted that Trump's decision to reduce the military presence in Germany in terms of economic benefits for the United States would be correct.

“He understood that the US was scattering its resources in such a way in many parts of the world.

Having created military-political "umbrellas" for Europe, South Korea, Japan and, in fact, becoming a donor for them, the United States became ineffective and uncompetitive, since it created favorable conditions for its allies - they stopped spending on defense, began to restore their economies, almost equal with Washington on welfare.

Some have even turned into his economic competitors, ”Blokhin explained.

Corresponding member of the Academy of Military Sciences Sergei Sudakov, in a conversation with RT, in turn, recalled that the Democratic Party actively criticized Trump's decision to reduce the military presence in Germany, as this allegedly plays into the hands of Russia.

"In addition, the Democrats believe that today there are many unresolved issues, for example, regarding payments to those soldiers who return home, as well as their further employment and housing," said the political scientist.

In addition, he noted that the strengthening of the US military presence around the world has already become a kind of "calling card" of the Democrats.

“They cannot change their political vector, so one can expect that Biden will not try to build a new concept of international relations, but will continue to implement the one that was formed 30 years ago.

Therefore, the United States is likely to continue to expand its presence in the world, ”concluded Sudakov.