President Nicusor Dan declared on Wednesday that a 'significant' American military presence in Europe is in the interest of European states. He stressed that many countries want American troops on their territory, but there will be no 'non-principle' negotiations between the allies on this subject.

The clarifications came following a question regarding the possibility of relocating American troops withdrawn from Germany to other European states.

'Our common interest is that the American military presence in Europe be significant. That is the most important issue. Of course, on an individual level, most European countries want an individual American presence, but you will not see negotiations, non-principle discussions among European allies about how to divide American troops on European territory,' the president said in a joint press statement held alongside the President of the Republic of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, and NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte.

He also explained the phrase 'NATO 3.0', which appears in the B9 summit statement, indicating that it refers to proportional contributions by member states.

'The fact that the United States and Europe contribute equitably does not mean that Europe defends Europe and the United States defends the United States. Because NATO operates with defense protocols that have been built over years, with scenarios for different types of threats, and these things cannot change from one day to the next. NATO 3.0 simply means that, on the same protocols that we are obviously updating, the contribution of the allies is proportional. And the Europeans have understood this. There is visible progress since The Hague. This process will continue. So we are already in NATO 3.0. The obligation of 3.5 + 1.5 is until 2035,' he said.

Nicusor Dan stressed that the process of rebalancing contributions is underway, despite some 'small instabilities' that may appear along the way.

'We are in a process of rebalancing the security contributions of each of the partners. In any process, there are small instabilities to overcome, but they do not mean an impairment of the process in the long term. NATO 3.0 means respecting financial commitments, transforming money into capabilities and the possibility of creating these capabilities in real time,' he said.

The President also commented on the recent statements made by President Vladimir Putin and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on the war in Ukraine, stating that they are addressed primarily to the domestic public. He mentioned that Russia 'is not in the happiest situation' and reiterated the support of the allied countries for Ukraine.

'Russia is not in the happiest situation today. And then it is logical for the Russian leadership to say 'We almost won the war. Ukraine is almost defeated. Wait a few days and we will reach peace'. In this way, we must take what Vladimir Putin said, what Peskov said. Each of the allied countries is determined to continue to support Ukraine and as a gesture of fairness in respecting international relations and for its own security, for the security of Europe and NATO. This kind of help is now through military assistance and immediately after - either peace or a ceasefire - through security guarantees', Nicusor Dan specified. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Irinela Visan; EN - writing by: Bogdan Gabaroi)