The start of U.S.-Russia talks on a possible agreement to end the war in Ukraine has spurred discussion about whether U.S. military forces in Europe will be reduced—a decision that would signal a significant shift in security on the continent.
February 27, 2025 11:47 am (EST)
U.S. forces have been stationed in and deployed to Europe since the end of World War II. Numbers have fluctuated since that time, reaching a high of roughly 475,000 active-duty personnel in the late 1950s when the U.S. military served as a bulwark against Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces at the height of the Cold War. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, those numbers dropped to the tens of thousands.