The United States will increase its military presence in Germany amid the latest tensions with Russia over Ukraine, abandoning former President Donald Trump's plans to withdraw about 12,000 of Germany's 36,000 troops, Reuters reported.

“I briefed the minister on our intention to permanently stage an approximately 500 additional U.S. personnel in the Wiesbaden area as early as this fall,” U.S. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin told at press conference after meeting his German counterpart, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, in Berlin.

Last June, Trump announced his intention to cut the US troop contingent in Germany by about a third, saying Berlin was using the United States to its advantage without fulfilling its financial obligations to NATO.

Austin, who served in Germany as a young man and said he had fond memories of that time, thanked Berlin for its contributions to NATO missions and for taking steps to increase defense spending.

“I truly value what you bring. It is not lost on me that we share values, and that you are a very committed partner,” he said while Kramp-Karrenbauer welcomed his troop decision as an encouraging signal.

Austin declined to answer questions about whether the deployment of additional troops should be interpreted as a signal to Russia amid renewed tensions over Ukraine.

“These forces will strengthen deterrence and defence, and they will augment our existing abilities to prevent conflict and if necessary to fight and win,” he said. “It will greatly improve our ability to surge forces at a moment’s notice to defend our allies.”