Lithuania ready to pay for permanent US military base if established
Lithuania is ready to cover the costs of establishing a permanent U.S. military base if Washington agrees to the move, Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said on Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would consider Lithuania's request for a permanent base. The U.S. has kept an armored battalion of almost 1,000 troops in Lithuania since 2019 in overlapping rotations.
VILNIUS, Oct 6 (Reuters) — Lithuania is ready to pay the cost to set up a permanent US military base if Washington should agree to establish one there, Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said on Tuesday. " Lithuania, a member of the EU and NATO, borders Russia and Moscow's close ally Belarus. The United States has kept an armoured battalion of almost 1,000 troops there since 2019, in overlapping rotations, meaning the troops arrive and leave every few months. Sinkevicius said he proposed turning this into a permanent presence at a meeting with Trump's envoy John Coale last month in Vilnius.
"I'm glad that this idea is being taken seriously... This is a critically important guarantee of deterrence and security," Sinkevicius wrote on Facebook. com; +370 682 74006;)