Laurynas Kasčiūnas, chairman of Lithuania's parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence (NSGK), says the country hopes to secure additional deployment of US troops.
This was the key message that a delegation of NSGK and Foreign Affairs Committee members carried during its visit to the United States last week, Kasčiūnas says. There was “political understanding” at the meeting with US representatives.
“We asked for continued military presence in Lithuania without any breaks. That was our key thesis we went there with. [...] We met with at least four senators, and that was a fairly high bar for Lithuania's parliamentary diplomacy, and they understand that politically, and I hope we will be moving in that direction,” Kasčiūnas said at a press conference on Monday.
“We are speaking about having no breaks between battalions, when one leaves and the other comes. It’s not a radical solution, that's bringing the existing battalion to a slightly higher level,” the conservative MP said.
Before the US visit, Kasčiūnas and Laima Liucija Andrikienė, fellow conservative and chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, asked US congressmen to consider permanent deployment of US troops and bolstering air defence in Lithuania.
“We now look like West Berlin during the Cold War, we are in a particular geopolitical surrounding,” Kasčiūnas said.
“Deterrence is cheaper and easier than defence. That was our key message to the United States,” he added.
Moscow has amassed over 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders, but denies plans to invade its neighbour as the US and Western Europe fear.
As tensions over Russia's military buildup continue to rise, NATO announced earlier this month that it would send more troops, ships and planes to its eastern flank.
Western leader have warned Russia it would face serious consequences, including economic sanctions, if it attacked Ukraine.
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