The United States has notified its NATO allies that it plans to scale back its troop presence along Europe’s eastern border with Ukraine as it focuses on other global security priorities, Romania’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

Typically, between 80,000 and 100,000 U.S. troops are stationed across Europe. NATO members have expressed concern that the Trump administration’s move could reduce deterrence capacity at a time of heightened tension with Russia.

According to the Romanian Defense Ministry, the U.S. decision will end the rotation of a brigade deployed across several NATO countries, including Romania. About 1,000 U.S. troops will remain stationed in the country, down from an estimated 1,700 earlier this year.

Romania’s Defense Minister Ionut Mosteanu said the move reflects Washington’s strategic shift toward the Indo-Pacific region but emphasized that allied troop levels will stay higher than before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“Our strategic partnership remains solid, predictable, and reliable,” Mosteanu told reporters.

After the war in Ukraine began, NATO reinforced its eastern flank by deploying additional multinational battle groups to Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia. European troop levels in the region have since increased significantly.

Romania’s Defense Ministry said the U.S. adjustment takes into account NATO’s strengthened presence along the eastern frontier, allowing Washington to recalibrate its military posture without compromising defense readiness.

A NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said such adjustments are not unusual and that the U.S. maintains a much larger force in Europe than before 2022.

“NATO and U.S. authorities remain in close coordination to ensure the alliance’s robust capacity to deter and defend,” the official added.