Minister of National Defence Laurynas Kasčiūnas had his first phone call with Secretary of Defence of the United States Loyd J. Austin in which he assured the U.S. colleague of Lithuania’s stable priorities of cooperation with the United States and the U.S. remained the strategic partners for regional security and defence.
“The U.S. and NATO presence in Lithuania is the key deterrent. We hope that the uninterrupted U.S. force presence in Lithuania will be reflected in further U.S. military planning as well,” said L. Kasčiūnas and thanked U.S Secretary of Defence for the recent decision to have the force presence in the Baltic region indeterminately. In its turn, Lithuania is doing everything possible to ensure all Host Nation Support to the deploying U.S. troops, including development of proper infrastructure that meets NATO standards.
L. Kasčiūnas also thanked the U.S. for the leadership in ensuring assistance to Ukraine. Lithuania has made a long-term commitment to reach at least 0.25 percent of GDP worth of assistance to the war-torn country.
Minister and Secretary Austin also discussed the weaponry acquisitions underway and possibilities to speed up the delivery of the purchased equipment. More than 20 percent of Lithuania’s new defence equipment is acquired from the United States. Lithuania’s procurement include the Javelin medium-range anti-tank weapon system, the Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, Black Hawk helicopters, HIMARS High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, AMRAAM Advanced Medium Range Air-Air Missiles for the NASAMS medium-range ground-based air defense system, Switchblade loitering munition, etc.
“We are also working on strengthening the Lithuanian-U.S. cooperation in the areas of defence industry. Besides the 155 mm ammunition to be produced in Lithuania by Germany’s Rheinmetall, we are in serious talks with potential U.S. investors in Lithuania,” said Minister L. Kasčiūnas discussing the importance of defence industry development with U.S. Secretary of Defence.
