Lithuanian officials voiced concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s alleged ambitions could expand to the region, but the U.S. isn't promising a permanent deployment of troops.
In this photo taken from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, Russian army tanks are loaded onto railway platforms to move back to their permanent base after drills in Russia. VILNIUS, Lithuania — U.S.
Lithuanian officials voiced concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s alleged ambitions could expand to the entire region. “Putin must be surprised now by the unity of the West, which is much stronger than ever,” Simonyte told The AP. “Now we see how relevant NATO is and how important it is that we have absolute unity of NATO and the European Union. And the most important message to Mr. Putin is that there will be no decisions on countries behind the countries’ back. This is what he wants to achieve.”
The three Baltic nations — Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — joined NATO on the same day in March 2004, and the alliance operates under the principle that an attack on one member is an attack on them all. Lithuania, a nation of 2.8 million, borders Russian ally Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave.
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