WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) - Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday told reporters a U.S. troop deployment to Poland had been delayed, but added it was not accurate to say the troops were being withdrawn from Europe.
Reports about the possible cancellation of the deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland have drawn sharp criticism from U.S. lawmakers concerned about the potential for U.S. President Donald Trump to abandon European allies.
Vance, at a White House briefing, said the U.S. wants to encourage Europe to "take more ownership" of the common defense.
"We're not talking about pulling every single American troop out of Europe. We're talking about shifting some resources around in a way that maximizes American security. I don't think that's bad for Europe," he said.
The U.S. has been reviewing its troop presence in Europe and has long been expected to scale it back following demands from Trump that NATO take a larger role in the defense of Europe. The Pentagon has not yet detailed how it envisions future troop deployments across the continent.
"We've not reduced the troop levels in Poland by 4,000 troops. What we did is that we delayed a troop deployment that was going to go to Poland, that's not a reduction, that's just a standard delay in rotation that sometimes happens in these situations," Vance said.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell on Tuesday confirmed a "temporary delay" and said it was the result of a reduction of brigade combat teams assigned to Europe to three from four.
The reduction was "the result of a comprehensive, multilayered process focused on U.S. force posture in Europe," Parnell said on X.
"The Department will determine the final disposition of these and other U.S. forces in Europe based on further analysis of U.S. strategic and operational requirements, as well as our allies’ own ability to contribute forces toward Europe’s defense," Parnell said.
Parnell said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke with Polish Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz on Tuesday, adding "the Department will remain in close contact with our Polish counterparts as this analysis proceeds, including to ensure that the United States retains a strong military presence in Poland."
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Steve Holland;Editing by David Ljunggren, Chizu Nomiyama and Chris Reese)
