Italian Premier Mario Draghi says plans for an increased U.S. military presence in Europe don't amount to a military escalation within NATO.
Draghi says the increase announced Wednesday by the White House would amount to just 70 additional U.S. troops on Italian soil and an air defense system that had already been planned.
But he added at the NATO summit in Madrid: "You have to be ready."
Draghi said overall Italy is committing 10,000 troops to NATO. That includes 2,000 divided among the Italian command of NATO in Bulgaria, its presence in Romania and staffing of air patrols over the Baltics. Another 8,000 are on standby in Italy "if eventually necessary."
