Christoph Heusgen, the director of the Munich Security Conference, believes that US Vice Minister J.D. Vance will announce the withdrawal of all US troops from Europe during his speech at the Bayerischer Hof today. Heusgen made this statement in an interview with the Deutschlandfunk, adding that this is the hour of Europe and that Europeans are ready to take on the great challenges and do more for their own defense.
Vance is scheduled to speak on the topic “The USA in the World” at the conference at 4:30 pm today.
Heusgen expressed skepticism about the statement made by Trump, that initial negotiations between the US, Russia and Ukraine will take place at the conference. Heusgen told the Deutschlandfunk that no Russian representatives are accredited to the conference.
There is no scheduled meeting between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Vance. CDU foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen sees a fundamental shift in US strategy. Röttgen views the transatlantic relationship as a partnership and was outraged by Trump’s phone call with Russian President Putin without consulting the “allies”.