President Donald Trump says the US will send an extra 5,000 troops to Poland, a week after the Pentagon cancelled a planned deployment of 4,000 troops to the country, the BBC reports.
Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte welcomed the move ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers in Sweden – adding the trajectory towards Europe becoming less reliant on the US “will continue”.
Writing on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, Trump said the decision was based on the US’s relationship with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom he backed during presidential elections last year.
He did not give further details on whether the additional troops were part of the previous planned deployment or a different operation.
The White House has signalled in recent weeks that it intends to reduce its overall troop levels in Europe as part of its “America First” agenda.
Rubio is expected to call for increased burden sharing from Washington’s Nato partners at Friday’s talks in Helsingborg.
