Wadephul is not alone in calling for further investment in the kind of cutting-edge drones developed by Ukraine. During a large military exercise in Champagne last week, French President Emmanuel Macron similarly underscored drone technology’s importance for national defense.
Drones — which as Ukraine has demonstrated, can be manufactured quickly and perform well against more expensive technology — are especially relevant as Europe seeks to rapidly bolster its defenses against Russia, with the United States pulling away.
The Pentagon last week announced that it would withdraw 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany over the next year. The news came amid an escalating clash between U.S. President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said Washington lacked a clear strategy to end its war in Iran and was being “humiliated” by Tehran.
Trump has also threatened to remove U.S. troops from Spain and Italy, whose leaders have also been critical of the war on Iran. And the U.S. president has long mulled with pulling out of NATO.
Wadephul on Monday sought to downplay the specter of large-scale withdrawal of U.S. troops from Europe at of a U.S. troop withdrawal and expressed confidence in the Alliance’s conventional deterrence capability in Europe.
“I am firmly convinced that the U.S. appreciates the value and importance of NATO, including for its own security,” he said, adding that he was confident the alliance’s conventional deterrence capability would be unaffected by the changes. Trump has made numerous public statements deriding NATO.