NATO trumpets resolve over Russia, plays down divisions

NATO defense ministers met Thursday in a fresh show of resolve against Russia and played down a series of festering trans-Atlantic disputes that threaten to undermine unity across the 29-nation military alliance.

Poland's navy ships and U.S. marines take a part in a landing operation during military Exercise Baltops 2018 at the Baltic Sea near village Nemirseta in Klaipeda district, some 340 kms (211 miles) west north of the capital Vilnius, Lithuania. Lithuania, Monday, June 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

At a meeting in Brussels, the ministers unveiled a new plan to reinforce their presence in any European crisis with the deployment of 30 troop battalions, 30 squadrons of aircraft and 30 warships within 30 days. Details of the plan, drawn up by the U.S. and to be in place by 2020, remain sketchy.

They also made official staffing levels of more than 1,200 personnel for new commands covering the Atlantic Ocean — based in Norfolk, Virginia — and in Ulm, Germany, handling logistics during any conflict on mainland Europe.

U.S. Marines take a part in a landing operation during a military Exercise Baltops 2018 at the Baltic Sea near village Nemirseta in Klaipeda district, some 340 kms (211 miles) west north of the capital Vilnius, Lithuania. Lithuania, Monday, June 4, 2018.(AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

"We have decided further steps to strengthen our shared security and boost defense and deterrence against threats from any direction," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters. He said the two commands will help "ensure we have the right forces in the right place at the right time."

Relations between NATO and Russia are at their lowest ebb since the Cold War, a fact the alliance says is due to Russia's destabilization of Ukraine and its 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

The meeting comes just five weeks before a summit of NATO leaders, to be attended by U.S. President Donald Trump.

A year ago, Trump embarrassed U.S. allies outside their new billion-euro headquarters by publicly berating them for failing to spend enough on their defense budgets.

Italian Defense Minister Elisabetta Trenta, left, poses with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, center, and U.S. Secretary for Defense Jim Mattis, right, during a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, June 7, 2018. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Over the past year he has pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate change agreement and a deal limiting Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons. At great expense, European allies are trying to keep that Iran deal afloat. Then on June 1, Trump slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from allies in Europe and Canada, citing national security concerns.

Stoltenberg says the U.S. is investing more on European defense than ever despite the trans-Atlantic differences.

"Many ministers highlighted the importance of NATO unity and that we have to stay united, especially when we see that Russia tries to divide us," he said.

Before the meeting, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he did not expect the trade rift to damage military ties.

The tariffs issue is a delicate one for Mattis, who has placed great emphasis on nurturing and strengthening relations with allies, particularly in NATO, where he has pushed member countries to spend more on their own defense and to help combat Islamic extremists.

U.S. Secretary for Defense Jim Mattis, center left, speaks with Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation, General Denis Mercier, center right, during a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, June 7, 2018. NATO defense ministers gather Thursday determined to show fresh resolve against Russia while hoping to prevent a series of festering trans-Atlantic disputes from undermining unity across the 29-nation military alliance. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Asked whether he thinks the Trump tariffs will hurt security ties with NATO partners, including Canada, Mattis said: "Right now I don't see that."

"And I think it's still premature to call it a trade war," he said.

The issue of "burden-sharing" — NATO parlance for spending enough and making the right military contributions — is a hot topic with Trump. Stoltenberg released what he said were new figures showing that the allies have spent $87 billion more on defense since 2014. He said 2018 is the fourth year in a row that defense spending has increased.

NATO expects that eight of its members will be spending the target of 2 percent of GDP on military budgets this year. Just over half the allies — 15 of them — have provided action plans laying out how they will close in on that benchmark by 2024.

Germany lags in defense spending and is likely to face more criticism from Trump next month.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States will pull the majority of its troops from Chad and Niger as it works to restore key agreements governing what role there might be there for the American military and its counterterrorism operations, the Pentagon said Thursday.

Both African countries have been integral to the U.S. military’s efforts to counter violent extremist organizations across the Sahel region, but Niger’s ruling junta ended an agreement last month that allows U.S. troops to operate in the West African country. In recent days, neighboring Chad also has questioned whether an existing agreement covered the U.S. troops operating there.

The U.S. will relocate most of the approximately 100 forces it has deployed in Chad for now, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Thursday at a press briefing.

“As talks continue with Chadian officials, U.S. AFRICOM is currently planning to reposition some U.S. military forces from Chad, some portions of which were already scheduled to depart. This is a temporary step as part of the ongoing review of our security cooperation, which will resume after Chad’s May 6th presidential election," Ryder said.

In Niger, the majority of the 1,000 U.S. personnel assigned there also are expected to depart, Ryder said.

U.S. and Nigerien officials were expected to meet Thursday in Niger's capital, Niamey, “to initiate discussions on an orderly and responsible withdrawal of U.S. forces," the State Department said in a statement late Wednesday. Follow-up meetings between senior Pentagon and Niger officials are expected next week “to coordinate the withdrawal process in a transparent manner and with mutual respect,” Ryder said.

Called status-of-forces agreements, these deals allow the U.S. to conduct critical counterterrorism operations within both countries' borders and have supported military partner training. The reversals have prompted concern that U.S. influence in Africa is losing ground to overtures from Russia and China.

Relations have frayed between Niger and Western countries since mutinous soldiers ousted the country’s democratically elected president in July. Niger’s junta has since told French forces to leave and turned instead to Russia for security.

Earlier this month, Russian military trainers arrived to reinforce the country’s air defenses and they brought Russian equipment, which they would train Nigeriens to use.

Niger plays a central role in the U.S. military’s operations in Africa’s Sahel region, a vast region south of the Sahara Desert. Washington is concerned about the spread of jihadi violence where local groups have pledged allegiance to al-Qaida and the Islamic State groups.

Niger is home to a major U.S. air base in the city of Agadez, about 920 kilometers (550 miles) from the capital, which is used for manned and unmanned surveillance flights and other operations. The U.S. also has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in training Niger’s military since beginning operations there in 2013.

Officials from the State Department, U.S. Africa Command and the Pentagon will work with Chad’s government to make the case for U.S. forces to continue operations, Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Adm. Christopher Grady said Wednesday.

Grady told The Associated Press in an interview that if both countries ultimately decide the U.S. cannot remain, the military will have to look for alternatives to run counterterrorism missions across the Sahel.

“If we are asked to leave, and after negotiations that’s the way it plays out, then we are going to have to recalculate and figure out a new way to do it,” Grady said.

The news of the departure of U.S. forces in Chad was first reported by The New York Times.

FILE - Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Adm. Christopher Grady, right, arrives for a closed door briefing about the leaked highly classified military documents, on Capitol Hill, April 19, 2023, in Washington. Grady says there's been no final decision on whether or not all U.S. troops will leave Niger and Chad. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

US to pull troops from Chad and Niger as the African nations question its counterterrorism role

US to pull troops from Chad and Niger as the African nations question its counterterrorism role

FILE - A U.S. and Niger flag are raised side by side at the base camp for air forces and other personnel supporting the construction of Niger Air Base 201 in Agadez, Niger, April 16, 2018. The United States is attempting to create a new military agreement with Niger that would allow it to remain in the country, weeks after the junta said its presence was no longer justified, two Western officials told The Associated Press Friday April 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Carley Petesch, File)