A US military helicopter lands on Bagram Air Base 60 kilometers from Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 11, 2003. (Xinhua Photo/Wang Lei)

The US military on Wednesday unveiled plans to withdraw about 12,000 troops from Germany, in fallout from US President Donald Trump's long-simmering feud with Berlin but said that it will keep nearly half of those forces in Europe to address tension with Russia.

Trump announced his intention in June to cut by about a third of the 36,000-strong US troop contingent in Germany, faulting the close US ally for failing to meet NATO's defense spending target and accusing it of taking advantage of the US on trade.

"We don't want to be the suckers anymore," Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday about the decision. 

"We're reducing the force because they're not paying their bills; it's very simple."

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has not portrayed the pullout in those terms and said that the military's plan would prevent the troop movements from undermining NATO.

In remarks likely to irk Moscow, Esper said some US troops would reposition to the Black Sea region and some could temporarily deploy in waves to the Baltics.

Other forces leaving Germany would permanently move to Italy and the US military's European headquarters would relocate from Stuttgart, Germany, to Belgium.

In total, just under 6,000 troops of the 12,000 leaving Germany are expected to remain in Europe. 

Many of the other forces will be based in the US but will rotate into Europe for temporary deployments without their families.

"I'm telling you that this is going to accomplish what the president said with regard to getting us down to a lower number in Europe, and it meets his other objectives I outlined with regards to the strategic piece," Esper said.

US officials stressed that only a relatively small number of advanced units would move anytime soon. 

The rest of the troop movements would take years to fully implement, in part given the potentially billions of dollars in additional cost.

Still, the moves out of Germany represent a remarkable rebuke to one of the closest US military allies and trading partners, while two beneficiaries, Italy and Belgium, are low-spending alliance members, according to NATO data.

Reuters