"I am hopeful that, sooner or later, an additional armored brigade combat team will be assigned to Europe," Vershbow told BNS Lithuania in an interview in Washington. "I think it is more likely that it will be based in Germany, but possibly with forward elements pre-positioned in the Baltic states — or at least the equipment. But it may take one or two years before this is fully decided and implemented."

The former NATO deputy secretary general said that the decision to send an additional unit of U.S. troops to Europe could be made before the NATO summit to be held next July, however the transfer of the brigade itself could take a few years.

A brigade of around 4,000 U.S. troops was stationed in Poland earlier this year. Another 1,000 troops, primarily Americans, make up the multinational NATO battalion stationed in Poland as part of the alliance's Enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) defense and deterrence posture.

Multinational NATO battle groups consisting of about 1,000 troops each are also stationed in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, where they are headed by the U.K., Canada, and Germany, respectively.