BERLIN (Reuters) - Berlin has not yet received confirmation from Washington about reports that the United States plans to withdraw thousands of troops from Germany, Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Monday.


Kramp-Karrenbauer, the leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), said she would not speculate about the reports without confirmation.


"I don't want to speculate on something for which I have no confirmation," she told a news conference. "The fact is the presence of U.S. troops in Germany serves the entire security of the NATO alliance - so U.S. security too. That is the basis on which we work together."


U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. military to remove 9,500 troops from Germany, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.