Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said on February 22 that he proposed to US President Joe Biden during his meeting with the heads of the Bucharest Nine countries to deploy airborne surveillance systems, combat helicopters and HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) in the Baltic countries.
“All this is currently quite difficult to acquire within our financial capabilities, but it could be placed in the Baltic countries on a rotational basis,” the portal quotes Nauseda. LRT (Lithuanian Radio and Television).
He also noted that the leaders of the Bucharest Nine countries discussed with Biden the formation of NATO’s forward defense on the eastern flank.
In early December 2022, the commander of the Lithuanian army, Lieutenant General Valdemaras Rupshis, announced that the US military contingent stationed in Lithuania was moving from containment to combat readiness.
In November, the US State Department approved a possible deal with Lithuania for the sale of eight HIMARS MLRS. It was noted that the receipt by Vilnius of new models of military equipment will not change the balance of power in the Baltics, but will allow Lithuania to strengthen its potential and make it possible to cooperate with the American army in the future.
A month earlier, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur spoke about US plans to send an additional contingent of troops and weapons to the republic on a rotational basis.
Last spring, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced Washington’s intention to maintain a military presence in the Baltic Sea region.
On February 22, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin indicated that Poland and the Baltic countries were building up the offensive capabilities of their armies.
“Obviously, in the future, the United States expects to use them as a springboard for the implementation of power scenarios in the eastern direction,” he said.
According to him, at the same time, the West continues to hatch plans to overthrow the government in Belarus, relying on armed provocations by nationalists gaining combat experience in the conflict in Ukraine.
