(ANSA-AFP) - BUCHAREST, OCT 29 - Washington has told Romania and allies it will reduce some US troops deployed on NATO's eastern flank, the Romanian defence ministry said Wednesday, a move a NATO official swiftly downplayed to AFP. The decision was not a "withdrawal," Romania's Defence Minister Ionut Mosteanu told journalists shortly after the statement was released. It was the "cessation of the rotation of a brigade that had elements in several NATO countries, including Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary", he said. The ministry statement said that 1,000 US soldiers would remain deployed in Romania. They will help "to deter any threat" and represent "a guarantee of the United States' commitment to regional security", said Mosteanu. A NATO official told AFP that the body had been informed by the administration of US President Donald Trump in advance and also played down its significance. (ANSA-AFP).