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EXCLUSIVE: WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s deputy defense minister said Warsaw will press U.S. officials in the coming days over the Pentagon’s decision to halt a planned armored brigade rotation of U.S. Army soldiers — a recent move that rattled one of Washington’s closest NATO allies despite assurances that U.S. troop levels in Poland would remain unchanged.
At the same time, Polish officials stressed that Warsaw still views itself as a “model ally” within NATO and expects military cooperation with the United States to continue expanding.
“We will ask questions and I guess that we will get answers,” Polish deputy defense minister Paweł Zalewski told Fox News Digital in an exclusive on-camera interview ahead of meetings in Washington with Pentagon officials and members of Congress.
PENTAGON SCALES BACK TROOPS FROM NATO EASTERN FLANK, DENIES AMERICAN WITHDRAWAL FROM EUROPE
The comments come days after the Pentagon halted a planned rotation of approximately 4,000 U.S. Army troops to Poland, sparking concern in Warsaw and criticism from U.S. lawmakers. The move affected the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, which had been scheduled to deploy to Poland and other eastern flank positions as part of a routine nine-month NATO force rotation.
Around 10,000 U.S. troops are typically stationed in Poland, most serving on rotational deployments lasting several months at a time. Because the U.S. military presence in Poland relies heavily on those recurring rotations, the halted brigade deployment raised concerns in Warsaw.
It’s not yet clear whether halting the brigade will lead to a permanent reduction in U.S. forces in Poland.
Zalewski referenced recent assurances from President Donald Trump to Poland’s president-elect.
“We remember that President Trump, directly talking with President Nawrodski president of Poland, declared that the U.S. will maintain its armed forces in our country and the number of armed forces,” Zalewski told Fox News Digital.
“We’ll be staying in Poland,” Trump had said in September 2025. “We’re very much aligned with Poland. We’ll put more there if they want.”
The Pentagon said the decision came after consultations with the U.S.’ European Command (EUCOM), which leads U.S. military operations on the continent.
“The decision to withdraw troops follows a comprehensive, multilayered process that incorporates perspectives from key leaders in EUCOM and across the chain of command,” acting press secretary Joel Valdez told Fox News Digital. “This was not an unexpected, last-minute decision, and it would be false to report it as such.”
The Pentagon declined to detail the reasons for the halted rotation. The White House could not immediately be reached for comment.
The move triggered bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill because Poland has been viewed as a key frontline state against Russia. War Secretary Pete Hegseth previously praised Poland as a “model ally.”
“The level of partnership — just to underscore here — is unmatched in Europe,” Hegseth said during a February 2025 visit to Warsaw, Poland.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., called the canceled brigade rotation “a slap in the face to Poland” during a House Armed Services Committee (HASC) hearing Friday, while HASC Chairman Mike Rogers said lawmakers had not been properly consulted.
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Poland has become one of NATO’s most important military and logistics hubs since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, hosting rotational U.S. forces and serving as a staging ground for military assistance flowing eastward.
Trump repeatedly has threatened to reduce U.S. support for NATO allies he says spend too little on defense, while pushing European governments to assume greater responsibility for continental security. But Poland spends the highest portion of its GDP on defense of any NATO country at 4.8%.
Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland, Marcin Bosacki, on Friday acknowledged frustration in Poland about how the situation was communicated, while stressing that Poland has received assurances the U.S. does not plan to reduce its military presence in the country.
“It should have been communicated better,” Bosacki said in a meeting with reporters in Warsaw, Poland. “We’re still awaiting some answers.”
“But we take U.S. reassurance that U.S. doesn’t plan to reduce neither of the number nor the capabilities of the U.S. troops in Poland,” he added.
Bosacki said Poland expects troop rotations to continue and the total number of U.S. troops in the country to remain around 10,000, and emphasized Warsaw’s desire to deepen the military partnership further.
The halted Poland rotation comes amid a broader Trump administration effort to reduce the U.S. military footprint in Europe and push NATO allies to assume greater responsibility for conventional defense.
The Pentagon has announced plans to withdraw roughly 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, while earlier in 2026 the Army ended a rotational 101st Airborne Division deployment in Romania and other eastern flank positions as force levels in Europe moved closer to pre-Ukraine war levels.
Despite concerns over the halted troop rotation, Zalewski said the primary purpose of the delegation’s Washington meetings would be discussions about the future structure of NATO and defense cooperation between the United States and Europe.
The talks are expected to focus in part on the Trump administration’s so-called “NATO 3.0” approach, a Pentagon-backed vision that would push European allies to assume greater responsibility for conventional defense in Europe while the United States shifts more military attention toward China and the Indo-Pacific. The strategy emphasizes greater European military spending, force readiness and defense industrial capacity while reducing long-term American dependence on large troop deployments across the continent.
PENTAGON OFFICIAL FLAGS RETURN OF ‘COLD WAR MENTALITY,’ AS TRUMP ADMIN RESHAPES NATO ALLIANCE
Zalewski described Poland as a “model ally” because of its heavy defense spending, military modernization and close security partnership with Washington.
At the same time, he warned that Poland and other eastern NATO members remain under constant pressure from Russia through cyberattacks, sabotage and disinformation campaigns — threats that officials in Poland increasingly view as part of a broader hybrid war against the alliance.
Polish officials have in recent years blamed Russian-linked actors for cyberattacks targeting government institutions and critical infrastructure, while authorities also have investigated suspected Russian sabotage plots tied to arson attempts and surveillance operations inside Poland. Warsaw has additionally accused Moscow of orchestrating online disinformation campaigns aimed at undermining public trust, weakening support for Ukraine and driving divisions between NATO allies.
“Poland and the Eastern NATO flank states are (in) a certain kind of hybrid war,” Zalewski said. “We are constantly under attack by Russian cyber forces. There are a lot of acts of sabotage in Poland.”
He said Poland also has experienced incursions into its airspace by Russian drones and “huge disinformation coming from Moscow” aimed at undermining trust in authorities and dividing NATO allies.
Zalewski argued those hybrid threats have become especially dangerous since Russia’s 2014 seizure of Crimea because they are designed to weaken NATO internally without triggering a direct military confrontation.
He also expressed skepticism about efforts to improve relations between Washington and Moscow, arguing that Russia continues to view the United States and NATO as its principal adversaries. Zalewski warned that Moscow’s long-term objective is to fracture Western alliances and drive wedges between the United States and frontline NATO states such as Poland.
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“Yes, there are some ideas in the United States that it is possible to find a way between Russia and the United States,” Zalewski said. “But it’s only just a game played by Moscow.”
“As a matter of fact, since the beginning of the 20th century, for this Russian elite governing the country after the Russian Revolution, the United States has been the biggest enemy,” he added. “And as a matter of fact, the most visible emotion that they have to America — is just hate.”
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