US Assures Lithuania Of NATO Protection
Vilnius, March 7: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday assured Lithuania of NATO protection as he began his visit to the three Baltic states amid Russia’s ongoing attacks in Ukraine.
Speaking at a press conference, he said, “we’re continuously reviewing within NATO our defence posture, including looking at questions of extending the deployment of forces, looking at questions of more permanent deployments.
“All of that is under regular review and we’re engaged with NATO allies in doing just that.” “If there is any aggression anywhere, on NATO territory on NATO countries, we the United States, all of our allies and partners will take action to defend every inch of NATO territory. It’s as clear and direct as that.”
CNN quoted the State Secretary as saying that additional forces are being deployed, including American forces in Lithuania, F-35 fighters, various pieces of important equipment, all of which is being deployed here (and) deployed to the other states in the Baltics.
“An additional 400 personnel from the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team will be arriving in Lithuania in the days to come”, Blinken told reporters. Blinken opened his Baltic tour in Vilnius.