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Reading Time: 3 minutes The United States plans to reduce its troop presence along NATO’s eastern flank, including forces stationed in Romania, even as Russia said it successfully tested its nuclear-capable “Poseidon” super torpedo — a move likely to heighten security tensions across Europe. Romania’s defense ministry said Wednesday that Washington would not replace between 1,000 and 1,200 U.S. soldiers who rotated out of the country last month. Roughly 1,000 U.S. troops will remain at the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base near the Black Sea, alongside a wider allied presence of about 3,500 NATO soldiers. “The American decision is to stop the rotation in Europe of a brigade that had elements in several NATO countries,” the ministry said, calling the move expected given “changes in Washington’s priorities.” Defense Minister Ionut Mosteanu said Romania’s defense relationship with the United States remained strong and that its national capabilities were improving, citing a recently delivered advanced air defense system from Washington. “The expectation of having entire foreign armies here to defend us is unrealistic,” Mosteanu said. “We will continue to invest in the Romanian army.” The test follows Russia’s launch of a Burevestnik cruise missile and large-scale nuclear drills earlier this month A NATO official said the alliance was in close contact over force deployments, describing adjustments to U.S. rotations as “not unusual.” The U.S. military insisted the decision was not a signal of “lessened commitment to NATO,” noting that Washington remained ready to deter Russian aggression. Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said the U.S. shift reflected a long-term strategic pivot toward the Indo-Pacific, initiated under President Barack Obama. “The U.S. is concerned about competition with China, and Europe must guarantee its own defense,” Crosetto said. The troop adjustment comes as President Vladimir Putin announced Russia had successfully tested its nuclear-powered Poseidon torpedo — a weapon designed to trigger massive radioactive ocean swells capable of devastating coastal cities. “For the first time, we managed not only to launch it with a launch engine from a carrier submarine, but also to launch the nuclear power unit,” Putin said Tuesday while meeting with wounded soldiers in Moscow. “There is nothing like this,” he added, boasting the Poseidon could not be intercepted. The Burevestnik , known to NATO as “Kanyon,” is a nuclear-capable underwater drone roughly 20 meters long and weighing 100 tonnes. Analysts believe it has a range of about 10,000 kilometers and can travel up to 185 km per hour. The test follows Russia’s launch of a Burevestnik cruise missile and large-scale nuclear drills earlier this month, underscoring what Putin has described as a new global arms race between Moscow, Washington and Beijing. Arms control experts say the Poseidon blurs traditional deterrence frameworks, possibly carrying a two-megaton warhead powered by a liquid-metal-cooled reactor. Putin said its destructive capacity exceeds that of Russia’s Sarmat intercontinental missile, known in the West as “Satan II.” Since unveiling the Poseidon and Burevestnik in 2018, Putin has framed them as responses to NATO’s eastern expansion and the U.S. withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. While Moscow showcases new strategic weapons, President Donald Trump — who has said Russia is a “paper tiger” for failing to subdue Ukraine swiftly — has signaled that U.S. forces could be increased in Poland even as they are drawn down elsewhere. For Romania and other NATO allies bordering Ukraine, the twin developments — Washington’s reduced troop rotation and Russia’s renewed nuclear brinkmanship — underscore both the volatility of the regional security landscape and the growing imperative of self-reliant defense.
