German minister says U.S. has not confirmed it plans to withdraw troops

Berlin has not yet received confirmation from Washington about reports that the United States plans to withdraw thousands of troops from Germany, Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Monday. Kramp-Karrenbauer, the leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), said she would not speculate about the reports without confirmation.

"I don't want to speculate on something for which I have no confirmation," she told a news conference. "The fact is the presence of U.S. troops in Germany serves the entire security of the NATO alliance - so American security too. That is the basis on which we work together." U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. military to remove 9,500 troops from Germany, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.