Vice Minister of National Defence Margiris Abukevičius who conducted a visit to the United States earlier this week underscored at meetings with U.S. governmental cybersecurity experts that cybersecurity was inseparable from the red lines the allies were drawing in the dialogue with Russia. Both Lithuania and the United States have a shared perception of cyber threats and will work together closely to enhance mutual readiness to counter them.
At the meetings, the U.S. representatives voiced a steadfast support to the regional cyber defence center in Lithuania as the main operational platform for further cooperation with the U.S. on cybersecurity. The U.S. side also unanimously praised Lithuania’s role in the region in the cooperation with Georgia and Ukraine, and the significantly boosted resilience by preventing acquisition of equipment from untrusted suppliers.
At the meeting with White House representatives, Senior Director for Cybersecurity Policy Andrew Scott and Director for International Cyber Policy at the National Security Council Stephanie Kiel, M. Abukevičius continued the consultations begun with Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber & Emerging Tech at National Security Council Anne Neuberger. It was agreed to continue cooperating bilaterally on protecting critical infrastructure and ensuring cybersecurity of elections.
Vice Minister also met with Chairman of the HASC Cybersecurity Subcommitee James R. Langevin at the U.S. Congress and was assured that Lithuania was a critically important partner of the United States in cybersecurity.
“Lithuania is a highly valued partner to the United States in the implementation of our shared cybersecurity and defence interests. We have to continue the collective efforts to strengthen critical infrastructure and identify and respond to the actors to which cyber-incidents are attributed,” said the U.S. Congressman.
Vice Minister M. Abukevičius also continued the already begun dialogue on cybersecurity with Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy Mieke Eoyang. The Deputy Assistant Secretary and representatives of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were briefed on the results of the pilot project carried out at the Regional Cyber Defence Centre in Kaunas, it was also agreed to expand the cooperation with USCYBERCOM.
