Acting Chief of Staff of the US Army General Chris Lanew confirmed on Friday that Washington has canceled the sending of an armored brigade of 4,000 troops to Poland.
Points of attention
- The US cancels sending 4,000 troops to Poland, a decision that surprised the Pentagon and European allies.
- The cancellation came after talks within the last two weeks, with unclear reasons revealed for the sudden change.
US cancels sending armored brigade to Poland
The general told Congressional hearings that the talks about the cancellation and the decision to do so were made "relatively recently."
"This probably happened within the last two weeks," Lanev said, answering questions from lawmakers, also confirming that the brigade's advanced units are already abroad and military equipment is on its way.
According to Politico, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's decision to cancel the deployment of troops to Poland came as a surprise to both Pentagon officials and European allies.
We are talking about more than 4,000 soldiers from Texas who were supposed to arrive in Poland as part of a planned nine-month rotation and exercises with NATO allies.
Politico writes that the reasons for this decision remain unclear. At the same time, the publication notes that US President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with European allies due to their insufficient support for the war with Iran, although he called Poland an "exemplary ally" due to its high defense spending.
At the same time, the Pentagon denied claims that the decision was sudden.
The decision to withdraw troops was the result of a comprehensive, multi-level process that took into account the positions of key leaders... and the entire chain of command. It was not a sudden, last-minute decision.
