Sweden signals US may scale back troops in Europe

Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson has said that the US may reduce its military presence in Europe.

"Currently, the US is reassessing its military presence in Europe and may choose to scale it down. Europe should prepare for the time when it will need to take on significantly greater responsibility for its own security," the minister said, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media. 

Nearly 100,000 US servicemen are stationed across Europe.

Earlier, Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth urged Europe to take responsibility for its own defense. Hegseth stated that European nations must bear the "overwhelming" majority of funding for Ukraine, signaling a significant shift in Washington's stance on the war.

At a defense summit in Brussels, Hegseth emphasized that the US would no longer accept an "imbalanced relationship" with its allies and urged NATO members to significantly increase their defense spending. He also described the expectation of Ukraine returning to its pre-2014 borders as "unrealistic" and downplayed the likelihood of Ukraine joining NATO.

These remarks came after a "lengthy" phone conversation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, where they agreed to initiate talks aimed at ending the war.

By Naila Huseynova