Senior US senators have demanded an explanation from the Pentagon after media reports said it had abruptly paused the deployment of a 4,000-strong US armored brigade to Poland, raising concerns on NATO’s eastern flank. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the Pentagon had halted the planned rotational deployment of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team from the 1st Cavalry Division to Poland, despite some troops and equipment already being en route to the country. JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. But Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz denied that the roughly 10,000 US troops stationed in Poland would be reduced, saying Warsaw had received no notification of cuts and that talks with Washington were focused on strengthening – rather than cutting – both troop numbers and operational capabilities. There was no immediate clarification from US officials over Washington’s intentions regarding its military presence in Poland, which fears aggression by Russia amid Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Poland's Minister of Defence Wladyslaw Kosiniak Kamysz addresses a joint press conference with Lithuania's Minister of Defence at the Defence Ministry building in Warsaw on January 16, 2026. (Photo by Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFP)