Visiting Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in Vilnius on Friday that the United States will not leave NATO, arguing that continued membership is firmly in Washington’s own strategic interest.
“The US is not going to leave the Alliance. The United States will continue to work in NATO. Why? Because it is in their own fundamental interest. So let’s stop the empty talk about it,” Stubb told a Finnish-Lithuanian business forum.
He said US military bases in Europe are essential for Washington’s ability to project power globally.
“America needs Europe,” he said. “US bases in Europe, whether Ramstein or elsewhere, are a sine qua non [essential condition – LRT] for the United States to be able to project its military power globally, especially in the Middle East, Asia or Africa.”
Stubb also pointed to Russia’s nuclear arsenal as a central security concern for the United States and NATO.
“The mass of those nuclear weapons is concentrated on the Kola Peninsula and in Murmansk, 100 kilometres from the Finnish border,” he said. “Those nuclear weapons are not aimed at Vilnius, Helsinki, Stockholm or Oslo. They are aimed at New York, Washington, Miami and Los Angeles.”
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda stressed the importance of NATO unity, describing it as critical in the current security environment.
“NATO solidarity is probably the main goal we must achieve,” he said. “We must remain united despite all the problems and differing opinions.”
He added that Lithuania is seeking to maintain strong ties with both the United States and Germany, describing itself as a reliable ally.
The The Wall Street Journal reported that the US has suspended the deployment of more than 4,000 troops to Poland as part of a planned rotation, with some personnel and equipment already en route to Europe. Earlier Pentagon withdrew around 5,000 troops from Germany.
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