The Trump administration is halting what may amount to hundreds of millions of dollars in security funding to those European nations bordering Russia.
The upcoming cuts, which have not been publicly announced, come as the administration has not sought to renew European portions of what’s known as Section 333 funding and the Baltic Security Initiative, which supports nations near the Russian border like Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, the Financial Times reports.
“This action has been co-ordinated with European countries in line with the executive order and the president’s long-standing emphasis on ensuring Europe takes more responsibility for its own defense,” a White House official told the paper.
The apparent shift has alarmed European defense leaders, who see the presence of U.S. troops and support as a key deterrent against Russia.
“The Russians genuinely only care about American dollars, American troops and the American flag,” a European official told The Washington Post.
The change was reportedly communicated to European defense officials last week, though members of Congress have not been briefed, according to the Post.
The move fits with the longstanding Trump administration goal of pushing European allies to spend more on their security. In June, NATO members agreed to spend 5 percent of their GDP on defense.
It also comes as the administration has failed to meet its promises to rapidly find an end to the Ukraine war, despite the president’s high-visibility summits with Vladimir Putin in Alaska and European leaders in Washington last month.
President Trump vacillated between criticizing Ukraine for not doing more to end the war and extending major U.S. support to the beleaguered country, including penalizing allies like India for doing business with Russia and through an $825 million arms sale to Ukraine last month that included extended-range missiles.
In at least one European country, the president is still committed to a large U.S. troop presence.
During a Wednesday meeting with Poland’s new Trump-endorsed president, Karol Nawrocki, the U.S. leader suggested more American service members could head to the Eastern European nation, another country that has bulked up its defense because of the Russian threat near its borders.
“If anything,” Trump said, “we’ll put more there.”
