Communications between Pentagon, German Defense Ministry are reduced
Communications between the Pentagon and Germany’s Defense Ministry have significantly declined, according to German Lieutenant General Christian Freuding. He noted that after years of being able to reach US defense officials “day and night,” such contacts are now “cut off, really cut off.”
Freuding, formerly in charge of the German Defense Ministry’s Ukraine unit and recently named the next chief of the army, cited the abrupt halt of US weapon shipments to Ukraine earlier this year under President Donald Trump’s administration as an example, saying Berlin was given no prior notice. He now relies on diplomats in Washington to “find somebody in the Pentagon” for basic policy information.
The remarks come amid a US shift toward reducing direct involvement in the Ukraine conflict and broader European security, while urging NATO members to assume greater responsibility for their own defense.
Despite concerns over the US scaling back its presence, Germany has continued strengthening its military. Berlin is expanding weapons production, accelerating procurement programs, and approving long-term borrowing to support militarization. Officials have committed to transforming the Bundeswehr into the strongest conventional force in Europe by 2029, citing warnings from Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and others about a potential Russian threat to NATO.
Moscow has rejected such claims, asserting that Western governments exaggerate the Russian threat to justify rapid militarization and record defense budgets across the EU. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of trying to turn Germany into “the main military machine of Europe,” and warned that Berlin and the broader EU risk sliding into what he described as a “Fourth Reich.”
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