US President Donald Trump may use military pressure to force European countries to accept Washington's proposed plan for settling the conflict in Ukraine.
Modern.az reports that “Politico” published information about this.
According to the publication, the Trump administration may use the possibility of reducing the American military contingent in Europe as a means of pressure on its allies. The goal is to get European countries to support the US plan for resolving the Ukrainian conflict.
There is concern within NATO that even a possible defeat of the Republican Party in the congressional elections will not reduce Washington's pressure on its allies. On the contrary, if Democrats block Trump's domestic political initiatives, the president may turn his attention to foreign policy and demand additional concessions from Europe.
According to the information, the Pentagon must complete the re-evaluation of the deployment of American military forces stationed in Europe by December.
Among the possible options are the Trump administration further reducing the US military presence in Europe, cutting funds allocated to NATO's overall budget, and limiting the PURL program, which provides for the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine.
Former NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu believes that Washington could turn the presence of American troops in Europe into a tool of political pressure, demanding that its allies support the US plan on Ukraine.
In her opinion, a more serious risk is that these issues become part of a possible large-scale agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“There is a risk that the re-evaluation of the deployment of American forces, the issue of Ukraine, and the security architecture of Europe will become part of a larger agreement with Putin,” Lungescu said.
It should be noted that the process of re-evaluating the US military presence in Europe is ongoing. However, an official decision has not been announced regarding the use of troop withdrawal as a means of pressure in negotiations with Ukraine.
