The Trump administration has no plans to withdraw its forces from Europe, Polish President Andrzej Duda said after meeting with Keith Kellogg, the special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, in Warsaw on Tuesday.
According to Duda’s account of the meeting, he and Kellogg discussed recent incidents linked to Russian hybrid warfare, as well as concerns about the future of American engagement in European defence.
“There are absolutely no American intentions to reduce activity in our part of Europe, especially in terms of security, or to decrease the number of American troops,” Duda said.
“There are no signs that the United States plans to withdraw from Europe. (…) Two years ago, we absolutely correctly recognized that strengthening relations between the European Union and the United States should be a priority of Poland's EU presidency,” he added.
Warsaw has held the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU since January and will continue until the end of June.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has insisted that European NATO members allocate at least 5% of their GDP to defence - a target Poland is close to meeting, with plans to spend 4.7% in 2025.
Keith Kellogg arrived in Warsaw just days after newly appointed US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's visit and on the same day that US-Russia negotiations took place in Riyadh, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
A day earlier, European leaders had gathered in Paris to discuss Washington's talks with Moscow, as well as the possibility of a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine once a ceasefire is reached. Among the invitees was Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (PO, EPP).
