On July 14, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius began a visit to Washington, meeting with US counterpart Pete Hegseth to discuss a series of key security issues, including arms assistance to Ukraine, missile deployment in Germany and the future of US forces in Europe.
Germany is emerging as a pillar in NATO's largest military increase plan since the Cold War. The country has loosened its constitutional public debt limit to meet the defense spending target of 3.5% of GDP by 2029, with the defense budget expected to increase from 95 billion euros in 2025 to 162 billion euros by the end of the decade.
At the Pentagon, Pistorius will make a proposal previously announced by Prime Minister Friedrich Merz: Berlin is ready to pay for US patriot air defense systems sent to Ukraine. However, previous meetings between the two sides have not received a specific response from Washington.
US President Donald Trump confirmed on July 13 that he would send patriot missiles to Ukraine, but did not disclose the quantity and stressed that the cost would be paid by the European Union. Germany has handed over three patriot complexes to Kiev in the context of Ukraine suffering fierce attacks from Russia.
In addition, Mr. Pistorius wants to clarify whether the US will continue to commit to temporarily deploying long-range missiles in Germany from 2026 as under President Joe Biden. The proposed systems include Tomahawk cruise missiles and Dark Eagle hypersonic weapons.
Russia has criticized the plan, calling it a serious threat to national security and rejecting NATO's concerns that Moscow could attack a member country.
Another issue that is expected to be raised is the US reviewing its global military presence, which could lead to a reduction in its forces in Europe. Currently, about 80,000 US soldiers are stationed in the area, of which 40,000 are in Germany. European allies have called on Washington to coordinate carefully if it adjusts its forces, to avoid exposing defense gaps to risks from Russia.
