Lithuania ready to fund permanent US troop deployment

Lithuania wants a permanent deployment of US troops and is ready to cover the costs if Washington agrees, Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday, LRT reported, citing BNS.

Sinkevičius said he had discussed the issue with US special envoy to Minsk John Coale, who visited Vilnius in September. “We would really like US troops to be deployed permanently, and we are ready to cover the costs if that happens,” he said.

US troops are currently deployed in Lithuania on a rotational basis. Two US battalions are due to arrive in late October, with around 1,000 troops expected, Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas has said. Their equipment will include Abrams tanks, and the troops will serve for nine months.

More than 1,000 US troops completed their rotation in Lithuania this summer. The United States has regularly deployed battalions to the country since 2019. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Washington changed the status of its forces in Lithuania to continuous rotational deployment. Lithuania has previously said it is ready to host up to 1,500 US troops.