Vance says planned U.S. troop deployment to Poland delayed, not canceled

WASHINGTON, May 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that the Pentagon's planned deployment of more than 4,000 U.S.-based troops to Poland was delayed rather than canceled.

The Trump administration had not yet reached a final decision on where the troops would ultimately be sent, Vance said at a White House press briefing.

"It is a delay in troop rotation. Those troops could go elsewhere in Europe," he said.

"We actually haven't made the final determination about where those troops are ultimately going to go," Vance said, adding that the Trump administration was "talking about shifting some resources around in a way that maximizes American security."

He reiterated that U.S. allies in Europe need to shoulder more of their own defense burden.

"We have got to have more sovereignty and more of Europe standing on its own two feet," Vance said. "That will continue to be our policy in Europe."

Multiple U.S. media outlets reported last week that the deployment plan had been suddenly canceled.

The Pentagon announced earlier that roughly 5,000 U.S. troops would be withdrawn from Germany over the next six to 12 months. Enditem