The United States Department of Defense has said it will cut the number of brigades stationed in Europe from four to three, effectively returning its troop presence on the continent to pre-2022 levels.

A spokesperson for the Pentagon, the department's headquarters in Washington, described the shift as "the result of a comprehensive, multilayered process focused on US force posture in Europe".

The reduction, which was announced on Tuesday, brings US soldiers stationed in Europe back to 2021 levels, after surges that followed the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

A US Army Brigade Combat Team typically comprises 4,000 to 4,700 soldiers, according to a congressional report.

The move aligns with US President Donald Trump's push for European allies to shoulder more of their defense, even as critics warn it could weaken NATO's deterrence against Russia.

The chief Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell, said in a statement that the decision to reduce US troop numbers was "designed to advance President Trump's America First agenda in Europe and other theaters, including by incentivizing and enabling our NATO allies to take primary responsibility for Europe's conventional defense".

Trump has made clear that he expects European allies to take more responsibility for the continent's security and rely less on the US, and has grown frustrated with their reluctance to back Washington's Iran war policy.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has announced plans to cut about 5,000 US troops from Germany, and last week there was confusion over a surprise "canceled" rotational deployment of 4,000 US troops to Poland.

This came after Trump clashed with Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said last month that Tehran was humiliating the US at the negotiating table.

Some European capitals have growing concerns that Washington could make further withdrawals of US forces from Europe, reported the Financial Times newspaper.

US Vice-President JD Vance said on Tuesday the US had not yet decided if the 4,000 troops would be sent to Poland.

"Those troops could go elsewhere in Europe. We could decide to send them elsewhere," he said.

Parnell said the "final disposition" of US forces would be "based on further analysis of US strategic and operational requirements, as well as our allies' own ability to contribute forces towards Europe's defense".

Vance said: "We are not talking about pulling every single American troop out of Europe. We are talking about shifting some resources around in a way that maximizes American security. I don't think that's bad for Europe. That's encouraging Europe to take more ownership."

In a social media post on Tuesday, Poland's Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said that, in a phone call, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had affirmed the US"commitment to Poland's defense and security remains unchanged".