Breedlove: U.S. Reconsidering Troop Reductions in Europe
September 17, 2014
WASHINGTON – NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe said Tuesday that Pentagon leaders are reviewing decisions to scale down U.S. military forces in Europe in light of the changing security environment on the continent triggered by Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and Moscow’s ongoing support for rebels in the east.
“I have talked to leadership here about a function to re-address those decisions” Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove told reporters during a Pentagon news conference, just days after NATO leaders met in Wales to discuss the alliance’s response to the crisis in Ukraine. “Because those sequester decisions were clearly made before Russia-Crimea, I see this building now moving towards a review of those decisions” Breedlove said, referring to the automatic cuts imposed on defense spending by the budget sequester law.