[ad_1]
The Lithuanian president says the Baltic state will urge the United States to have a permanent military presence in the country, as Western allies seek to strengthen security amid concerns over the Ukraine crisis.
“We will definitely talk to the United States to make sure that American forces are permanently in Lithuania,” President Gitanas Nauseda told a news conference on January 9.
“This would be the best security reinforcement and the best opportunity that NATO can offer not only to Lithuania, but to the whole region,” he said.
Since 2019, the US has deployed in rotation about 500 combat troops in Lithuania, a NATO member state and former Soviet Union state located on the border with the Kaliningrad enclave of Russia.
Other NATO allies have also announced plans to increase their military presence in Eastern Europe and the Baltic, following rising tensions with Moscow, which has amassed more than 100,000 troops along the border with Ukraine.
Western intelligence has expressed concern that the gathering may be in preparation for the invasion of Ukraine, but Moscow denies any such plans.
The United States has said it has deployed “high alert” 8,500 troops that could be deployed to Europe within a short period of time if needed to secure NATO allies.
The Lithuanian president’s comments come in the same vein when the Netherlands said it would increase the number of its NATO troops in Lithuania from the current 270 to 350.
top channel
[ad_2]
Source link
