The remarks came hours before President Donald Trump's rowing back on a decision to cancel a planned 4,000-strong troop deployment to Poland, replacing it with a planned deployment of 5,000.

Poland's Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz was in Tallinn Thursday and had a meeting with his Estonian counterpart Hanno Pevkur (Reform). One of the main topics on the table was the planned reduction of U.S. boots on the ground in Europe, including the recent decision by the Pentagon to cancel the rotation of 4,000 soldiers to Poland. The meeting came just before an announcement by Washington that the recently ripped-up deployment of 4,000 personnel to Poland was being replaced by a planned 5,000 U.S. troops to the same country.

The earlier cancellation had come as a surprise to most allies; both Poland and Estonia are among the highest spenders on defense as a proportion of GDP in the entire NATO alliance and are key eastern flank nations. As such, they both still hope to retain U.S. military support.

Kosiniak-Kamysz said while solidarity is expected, the U.S. decision to withdraw 5,000 of its troops from Poland's neighbor to the west, Germany, will not ultimately negatively impact Poland or Estonia.

"We know what we are doing. We know how important security is. We are taking responsibility. At the same time, we have the right to expect solidarity that ensures the presence of U.S. troops within our countries' deterrence and defense system," Kosiniak-Kamysz said, noting that President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw 5,000 troops from neighboring Germany will ultimately not affect Poland or Estonia.

What is clear is that the Europeans will gradually have to begin taking on at least some of the Americans' former responsibilities. Beyond long-range strike capabilities, human resources are also becoming an issue. Former Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) commander Riho Terras, now an MEP, said several European countries, Germany among them, are considering bringing back conscription.

"Everyone has understood that wars are won with reserves, while if you have a professional military, it produces very limited reserves. Of course, this will not be easy. At the same time, Europe has significantly more troops than have officially been assigned to NATO," Terras told "Aktuaalne kaamera".

On this, Pevkur said: "The armies of European countries number around one million troops in total, which is a fairly substantial number. We are also discussing with the British whether their presence here could change or not. Perhaps within a month we will be able to say something more specific about that as well — for example, what the British footprint here will look like in the coming years."

The U.K. has been lead nation at the Tapa-based NATO battlegroup for close to a decade now.

Poland's air force to take on NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission role at Ämari

While in Tallinn, Kosiniak-Kamysz discussed with Pevkur the recent drone incursions into Estonian airspace and that of the other two Baltic states.

Poland, which shares a border with both Ukraine and, via the Kaliningrad exclave, the Russian Federation, agrees with the Estonian line that Kyiv should be more exacting in its drone strike operations, successful as these have been. The main reason for this is Russia can potentially use stray drone incidents as a provocation – Moscow has already claimed the three Baltic states had granted Ukraine permission to use their airspace in strikes on Russian infrastructure, a claim all three countries reject.

On Tuesday a stray drone was downed by an F-16 interceptor jet in Romanian air force service. The plane had flown from Šiauliai in Lithuania, where it is based as part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission. The other main air policing base is at Ämari, west of Tallinn: Poland's air force is soon to take on that rotating role.

"This week's drone incident again confirms that Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has a direct impact on our security. I am therefore pleased to announce that Poland intends to take part in Baltic Air Policing this year, deploying its fighters to Ämari Air Base – an important and highly valued contribution to the security of our entire region," Pevkur said via a press release.

The two ministers also discussed deepening cooperation in defense and the defense industry.

"Estonian–Polish defense cooperation is closer than ever before. In addition to our shared understanding of the threats facing Europe and the importance of ensuring deterrence, we are increasingly working together in the field of defense industry," Pevkur said.

"Together with Poland, we are setting an example to our allies by committing to increase defense spending to 5 percent. We are both making substantial investments in the defense industry, which helps ensure Europe's security of supply and its independent defense capability. Estonia's growing defense industry has much to learn from Poland, and we can be valuable partners," he added.

"As countries on NATO's eastern flank, Estonia and Poland work closely together to ensure that Europe remains secure and that the aggressor stays on the other side of the border. We bear this responsibility on behalf of all of Europe, and we need the solidarity and support of EU member states to implement initiatives such as Eastern Flank Watch, which safeguard our common security."

The ministers also visited the Polish Navy's multi-role support vessel ORP Kontradmirał Xawery Czernicki, currently in port in Tallinn.

The BBC reported early Friday that Donald Trump said the U.S. will send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, just a week after the Pentagon canceled a planned deployment of 4,000 troops there.

Posting on Truth Social, Trump said the move reflected the U.S. relationship with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom he endorsed during last year's presidential election campaign.

Trump gave no further details on whether the troops are tied to the canceled deployment or part of a separate operation.

In recent weeks, the White House has indicated it wants to reduce overall U.S. troop levels in Europe under its "America First" policy. Earlier this month, Washington also announced plans to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany following a dispute between Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the war with Iran.

Trump has also criticized NATO allies for failing to back U.S. efforts to pressure Iran over the Strait of Hormuz.

NATO foreign ministers are meeting in Sweden on Friday for a summit attended by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is expected to push allies to increase burden sharing.

According to the BBC, Germany hosts the largest U.S. military presence in Europe, with more than 36,000 active-duty troops, compared with about 12,000 in Italy and 10,000 in the UK.

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