The U.S. will permanently set up “about 500 additional U.S. personnel in the Wiesbaden area” in Germany and will already be on the ground “already in the fall,” Austin said during a news conference in Berlin.
“This planned increase in US personnel underscores our commitment to Germany and the entire NATO alliance,” he added.
In its announcement Tuesday, Austin said the new staff in Germany “will deter and strengthen defense in Europe, and that they will increase our existing capabilities to prevent conflict.”
He said the forces would “create more space capabilities, more cyber and more electronic warfare capabilities in Europe” and “greatly enhance our ability to meet in an instant to defend our allies.”
Asked if it was a message to Russia, Austin replied: “Let me assure you that it is a message to NATO, and that the message is that we fully support NATO.”
“And most importantly, we value the relationship with our partner here in Germany. And so we will continue to strengthen our partnership and our alliance,” he said.
German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer welcomed the announcement by another 500 US troops stationed in Germany as “good news” and said the US commitment to NATO was “an important pillar of our freedom and peace.”
“Our collaboration is all the more important, important in times where security and defense architecture has come under pressure in many parts of the world,” she appeared with Austin on Tuesday.
Austin will continue his first trip to Europe as Secretary of Defense this week, joining US Secretary of State Tony Blinken in Brussels to meet with NATO allies.
Blinken reiterated on Tuesday that “the United States strongly supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine” during a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Brussels.
The top US diplomat said support was particularly important in light of Russia’s “very challenging actions on Ukraine”.
“We now see the largest concentration of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine since 2014, and this is a serious concern not only for Ukraine but also for the United States and many of our allies and partners,” Blinken said. added that he ‘will consult NATO partners in the coming days.
Kuleba expressed appreciation for US support and expressed optimism that the international community would “take actions that will make it very clear to Russia that the price of its further aggression against Ukraine will be too heavy to bear.”
Austin plans to meet with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on ‘how the Alliance is tackling destabilizing behavior by Russia, a rising China, terrorism and global challenges such as COVID-19 and climate change’, according to the Pentagon.
Asked on Tuesday whether his announcement was an indication that he would not carry out the Trump administration’s plans to withdraw thousands of troops from Germany, Austin noted the February announcement in Biden and said he was Kramp -Karrenbauer stresses that the US ‘stops planning’ for a withdrawal.
CNN’s Samantha Beech and Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.