‘Everything worked’ says Nato commander after its jets shot down stray drone over Estonia – Europe live

Grynkewich’s words there are not exactly surprising – we have long known that the US was looking to pivot away from Europe and wanted to see more from its European allies – but his clear language on future redeployments of US troops from Europe will only add further urgency to Europe’s attempts to build up its military capabilities.

Behind his reassuring words that the decision to pull out some US troops does not impact “the executability” of Nato’s plans (16:18) and that he remains “very comfortable” with where we are (16:25), there is a clear signal to European allies to get on with the task of expanding its military, quickly.

Grynkewich gets asked for his comments on potential future redeployment of US troops or, in plain speak, even more US troops moving out from Europe.

He says that is a consequence of the US National Defence Strategy that “as the European pillar of the alliance gets stronger, this allows the US to reduce its presence in Europe and limit itself to providing only those capabilities that allies cannot yet provide.”

“And so we should expect there to be a redeployment of US forces over time as allies build their capacity,” he says.

He says this will be process going on for “several years” and will “vary broadly across a number of different capabilities as nations meet their Hague spending commitments and meet their capability targets.”

And with two more brief questions, that ends the presser.

The three Nato leaders get asked about today’s incidents in Estonia and Latvia.

Grynkewich says that Nato’s response to the incursion in Estonia shows the system worked “exactly how our defence design is supposed to work.”

He says Nato is “still assessing the situation, but it looks at initial glance like everything worked.”

He then responds to a broader question on whether Nato poses any threat to Russia.

He says:

“It’s a standard Russian trope, right? They constantly say that Nato is doing something in an offensive manner, but we all know you can read the treaty: Nato is a defensive alliance. We are not a threat to Russia, and they know we’re not a threat to Russia. If they thought we were a threat to Russia, they wouldn’t have emptied the Leningrad military district to go and invade Ukraine.”

He also responds to Russian disinformation suggesting the Baltics are allowing for Ukrainian drones to take off from there when attacking Russia (12:38).

“If we were allowing drones to go through Baltic airspace in order to get to Russia, we wouldn’t be shooting them down.”

The speakers get pushed on whether Europe should expect more decisions on troops deployment in Europe, and whether there will be move to replace some of the capabilities and troops removed by the US.

Grynkewich says that the allies are “in constant contact” discussing their options.

He says he can’t get ahead of political decisions in the US, and “the redeployments that we have so far are all that’s been announced; it’s all that I’m expecting in the near term,” but he says there could be further changes “as Europe continues to build capabilities.”

Grynkewich also talks about recent exercises involving Ukrainian drone teams, which reportedly revealed vulnerabilities in the Nato’s ability to fight back.

The answers are pretty complex, but Grynkewich effectively says that too much attention is paid to the first days of the exercises and their outcomes, and not to what’s learned by the end of the week, which he said showed “rapid increase” in their ability to fight back with “real results” on the battlefield.

Asked about how many US troops will be pulled out of Europe, Grynkewich confirms it will be 5,000 troops, as previously announced by Trump.

Grynkewich says “a fair number of those will come from the armoured brigade combat team that is returning” – that’s the troops from Germany – “and the US has also already announced that the previously planned deployment of a long-range fires battalion will be curtailed.”

That’s a reference to the rotational deployment to Poland which got cancelled, prompting confusion among the Polish civilian and military leadership.

Grynkewich explains this is possible because “a lot has happened in the alliance” in recent years, with the Baltic and Polish allies “building up their ground combat power, so there is substantially more capability in the ground domain that was previously.”

He says he remains “very comfortable with where we are.”

Nato’s Pierre Dominique André Vandier joins in with calls for Europe to ramp up its defence spending, turning it into “real capability, real interoperability, real deterrence.”

He says that “Russia and its allies have adapted,” and the alliance needs to recognise these changes.

And we’re going straight into the Q&A. Expect Grynkewich to be pushed on the US presence in Europe.

Nato’s supreme allied commander in Europe, Gen Alexus Grynkewich, addresses this point in his remarks.

He says the meeting looked into “how European allies and Canada are taking more responsibility for the conventional defence here in Europe, with continued backing from American capabilities,” although with “adjustments.”

He insists that the US decision “does not impact the executability of our regional plans.”

He turns to Ukraine, hailing its fight against Russia and “extraordinary resilience and innovation” in the fifth years of the war. He insists that “everything allies have paid for is flowing,” despite reported delays in deliveries.

“By investing in Ukraine, we are not only protecting their population and defending their critical infrastructure and sustaining their fight. This is also an investment in European security beyond Ukraine,” he says.

This may feel like a routine press conference, but this is a pretty big moment as we are going to hear on what the alliance’s top commanders make of the US changes to its defence posture in Europe amid increased fears on how this could impact the regional security.

Meanwhile, we are hearing from top Nato commanders in Brussels after their meeting with military chiefs from the alliance.

Opening the briefing, the chair of the Nato Military Committee, Adm Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, speaks about the need for “fairer burden sharing” in the alliance as part of the broader reform.

He says “the expectation by military authorities are extremely high” ahead of the Nato summit in Ankara in July as they want politicians to “turn all those pledges into tangible results with faster delivery in order to achieve higher readiness and stronger deterrence.”

He pointedly says “the rate of delivery and fielding of all capabilities necessary for our deterrence and defence require dramatic increases and improvement.”

“We are not at war, but we are not at peace either,” he says.

The funeral has taken place in Kyiv for sisters Liubava, 12, and Vira Yakovlieva, 17, who were killed in a missile strike on an apartment block in the city’s Darnytskyi district on 14 May.

As Agence France-Presse reports, the girls were among two dozen killed in the early hours of Thursday when Russia launched its deadliest attack of the year on the Ukrainian capital, with 675 combat drones and 56 missiles.

The girls’ mother, Tetiana Yakovlieva, attended the service in Saint Michael’s church. Their father, Yevhen Yakovliev, volunteered to fight when Russian forces invaded Ukraine and was killed in combat three years earlier.