Amid continuing talks between the US and Russia, which wants to renegotiate European security issues, Lithuanian Defence Minister Dovilė Šakalienė says that Washington’s commitments to NATO have not changed.
“We all have two choices – to rely on emotions or to rely on facts. The facts at the moment are that the United States is a member of NATO, it is not going to withdraw from NATO, judging by any visible action right now,” Šakalienė told reporters at the Lithuanian parliament, Seimas on Tuesday.
“Are we going to see any changes in the coming months is really up for speculation, but the overall picture of our defence plans is certainly stable,” the minister said ahead of a telephone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
The Kremlin has said that Russia is seeking talks with the US not only on Ukraine but also on European security and issues of concern to Moscow.
Back in 2021, Russia demanded that NATO not deploy troops or establish military bases in countries that joined the alliance after 1997, which would include the Baltic states and Poland.
“Military planning [with the US], ranging from exercises to the deployment of certain resources, the implementation of our joint actions, the implementation of plans, the achievement of NATO’s capability targets – everything is going according to plan, the implementation of our regional defence plans is proceeding in a very orderly and stable way, as it is supposed to,” the defence minister underlined.
The Baltic regional defence plans were approved at the NATO summit in Vilnius in 2023.
Last week, Šakalienė said after talks with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that Lithuania was ready to host an additional US battalion.
Currently, a US rotational battalion is deployed in Pabradė, Lithuania.
Washington has decided on the persistent presence of American rotational forces in the Baltic region, and Lithuania is committed to doing its utmost to ensure that the incoming US troops are provided with all the necessary support and infrastructure in the host country.
The US heavy battalions in Lithuania have been rotating since 2019.
In early March, NBC reported, citing current and former senior officials, that as the US reviews its deployment of troops in Europe, President Trump is considering favouring countries that spend heavily on defence. This would fundamentally change the way America participates in NATO.
Trump has repeatedly slammed NATO countries for not meeting the current target of spending at least 2 percent of their GDP on the military, arguing that this is unfair and places an additional burden on the US.
Earlier this year, he said that European allies should collectively spend as much on defence as the US does alone. More recently, he said that NATO members should spend 5 percent of their GDP on defence.
Lithuania has recently upped its borrowing capacity and plans to spend 4 percent of its GDP on defence this year, pushing it up to 5-6 percent in 2026-2030.
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