“We have to support Ukraine with every possible and most importantly – real military support,” said Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas after a phone call with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on late night February 24.
The phone call with U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin in Bucharest Nine (B9) Defence Ministers’ format was arranged in the light of full-scale Russian invasion into Ukraine. The B9 Initiative is a cooperation platform between nine Central and Eastern European Countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary) for strengthening the Euro-Atlantic security.
U.S. Secretary of Defense who was visiting Lithuania just this past weekend and B9 Defence Ministers discussed further enhancement of the eastern flank of NATO. A. Anušauskas thanked Lloyd Austin for the US leadership and additional forces for the Baltic region.
The United States, Lithuania’s strategic partner in security and defence, responded to the ongoing security situation by deploying F35 fighter aircraft to Lithuania on February 24 and taking an important and needed decision to extend the rotation of the heavy 3-66 Armor Battalion in Lithuania.
