On March 14 Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė had a phone call with U.S. Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth. The officials discussed defence cooperation between the two countries and regional security developments.
U.S Secretary of Defense thanked Lithuania for the leadership in the region and Europe and noted that Lithuania was a robust and reliable partner, and a role-model to other Allies. P. Hegseth praised Lithuania’s effort to strengthen defence capabilities highlighting the significant investment in defence budget and Armed Forces modernization. He also expressed gratitude for the excellent conditions provided to the U.S. troops serving in Lithuania and the share of the burden of the infrastructure needed for hosting Allied military personnel.
Minister of National Defence D. Šakalienė assured the colleague of Lithuania’s readiness to maintain and, what’s more, step up the U.S. troop presence if possible.
“The key takeaway message I got was that Lithuania’s leadership in ensuring its own defence and contribution to peace in Ukraine is seen and appreciated on the other side of the Atlantic. The United States is not going to leave us behind. P. Hegseth was particularly positive about the defence industry cooperation prospects and favorable conditions to that, we have agreed to continue the work at tactical level and get back to the topics in our next conversations,” said Minister D. Šakalienė.
Both countries reiterated the intent to continue the close cooperation towards a stronger regional and international security.
The United States has been consistently rendering assistance to Lithuania’s military capability development, as well as deploying heavy battalions for uninterrupted persistent presence since 2019. The U.S. battalion in Lithuania has been reinforced with an artillery support unit since 2022. U.S. military presence is a critical deterrent and a security guarantee for the Baltic states.
