NATO has said it was "working" with the United States to understand Washington's decision to slash its troops in Germany by 5,000 following a spat between the leaders of the two nations.
The US move came after President Donald Trump renewed criticism of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said Monday that Iran was "humiliating" Washington in negotiations to end the war in the Middle East.
"We are working with the US to understand the details of their decision on force posture in Germany," NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said on X on Saturday.
"This adjustment underscores the need for Europe to continue to invest more in defence and take on a greater share of the responsibility for our shared security, where we're already seeing progress since Allies agreed to invest 5 percent of GDP," the post said.
"We remain confident in our ability to provide for our deterrence and defence as this shift towards a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO continues."
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the withdrawal of about 5,000 troops from Germany within the next year, the Pentagon said.
Trump said earlier this week that he would remove troops from NATO ally Germany amid a row with Merz.
Trump said on Tuesday that Merz "thinks it's OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon”. He doesn't know what he's talking about!"
The EU said on Thursday that the deployment of US troops in Europe was in Washington's interest, and that the United States was "a vital partner in contributing to Europe's security and defense."
