NATO Secretary General Rutte confirms US cuts to force planning for Europe

At the same time, Rutte stressed that the US adjustment should not be understood as a US withdrawal. "The United States have made clear that they are committed to NATO," he said. The US still wanted to reliably provide nuclear deterrence.

Background: The NATO Force Model

The NATO Secretary General pointed to the threat from Russia and described the dependence on the US as historically excessive. "It is somewhat strange that we still need so much help from another country, eight flight hours away and with 350 million inhabitants, to defend ourselves against a country with 140 million inhabitants," Rutte said. Burden-sharing needed to become fairer.

According to a report by the newspaper "Welt" from June, which is based on a confidential document, the US plans provide, among other things, that an aircraft carrier group and a squadron of long-range bombers will in future no longer be available under NATO planning. Reconnaissance drones for long-range surveillance and eight modern KC-46 tanker aircraft are also to be removed entirely from NATO planning.

In addition, according to the report, the US was planning significant reductions in fighter jets, armed MQ-9 drones, as well as in cruiser and destroyer groups. Rutte himself did not comment on the details of the adjustments.

What exactly the US is withdrawing

According to information from the German press agency, some of the resulting gaps can be closed immediately, but others cannot. According to information from diplomats, around half a dozen NATO partners have registered new contributions to the NATO Force Model in recent weeks.

According to the report, the United Kingdom is to take on the largest share of the new pledges, while other major NATO partners such as France and Germany have so far been hesitant about making new pledges. According to a report by "Spiegel," the pledges made so far for fighter jets, drones, or warships offset more than 50 percent of what the US no longer wanted to provide to Supreme Allied Commander Europe, four-star General Alexus Grynkewich, in air force and naval weapons systems.

Reactions and pledges from allies

Rutte expressly welcomed this development: "That is fair. That makes us stronger." The most recent force planning conference took place on 2 and 3 June. Rutte spoke on Wednesday in Brussels against the backdrop of the Russian threat and the importance of US deterrence. The Dutchman has been NATO Secretary General since autumn 2024.

According to Rutte, the adjustment is tied to the expectation that allies will share responsibility for security in Europe more fairly. For Europeans and Canadians, this means doing more in the conventional area. Rutte emphasized that the US had adjusted its pledged contributions and other allies had increased their contributions — this was fair and made the alliance stronger.

Overall, it is becoming apparent that NATO is facing a phase of rebalancing, in which European members and Canada will be more strongly drawn into responsibility for conventional capacities. According to Rutte, however, nuclear deterrence will explicitly remain in US responsibility.