The US could strengthen its troop presence in Poland as the Ukrainian borders remain unclear, according to Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth, who made the statement during a joint press conference with Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. The transmission was carried out on the X-side of the US Defense Ministry.
Hegseth emphasized that he remains of the opinion that a return of Ukraine to its pre-2014 borders is unrealistic, but a retreat to its 2022 borders is possible: “As Ukraine’s borders ultimately will look, I think it will be part of the conversations between our President Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Russian President Vladimir Putin and maybe also Europe.”
The Pentagon Chief also underscored that an increase of US troops in Poland reflects his personal opinion. Currently, around 8,000 American soldiers are stationed in the country. Hegseth thanked Warsaw for the support and described Poland as a “model partner” that other European states should follow in defense matters. At the same time, he made it clear that the American military presence in Europe, although significant, cannot last forever. A deployment of US troops to Ukraine, however, is ruled out.
Meanwhile, in Germany, speculation is rife that US Vice President J.D. Vance could announce the withdrawal of US troops from Europe at the Munich Security Conference. Christoph Heusgen, the chairman of the conference’s organizing committee, stated in an interview with the Deutschlandfunk, as reported by the Bild-Zeitung: “I assume that the American Vice President will announce the withdrawal of a large part of the American troops from Europe and that Europe must take over these tasks.”
Already the day before, the German Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz had declared that Vance would deliver a “confrontational” speech, a “tough and direct message” to Germany and Europe.
Heusgen also made it clear that Russian representatives would not be accredited for the conference and that they had not received a visa – a reaction to reports of possible meetings with the Russian side on the Ukraine issue in Munich.
While Trump had previously announced that representatives of the US, Russia and Ukraine would hold talks on February 14 in Munich, this was not confirmed by the Kremlin.