Lithuania is not at risk of losing any of the more than 1,000 US troops currently stationed in the country, Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said in an interview with LRT.
“Next year, we will allocate record funding for defence,” Ruginiene said. “For us as a small country, 5.38 percent of gross domestic product is quite a challenge, but this challenge has already produced a positive outcome.”
“Elsewhere, the number of US troops is being cut, but Lithuania faces no such risk,” she added. “We are mentioned by our strategic partners in a positive context.”
Her comments follow President Gitanas Nausėda’s announcement earlier this week that he received a letter from US President Donald Trump praising Lithuania’s increases in military spending – a signal, he said, that Washington intends to maintain its focus on the Baltic nation.
American forces have rotated through Lithuania since spring 2014, with heavy battalions deployed since 2019. The battalion currently stationed there was reinforced with an artillery unit in 2022.
Washington is reviewing its broader military posture in Europe, while Lithuanian officials say they are working to preserve or expand the current US presence.
In late November, Lithuania opened new military infrastructure for US forces at the General Silvestras Žukauskas training area in Pabradė. After the ceremony, Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said Lithuania would cover all costs associated with hosting US troops and noted he had received no negative signals about their continued deployment.
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