Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin announced the readiness of the United States, if necessary, to defend Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and maintain its military presence in the region.
Source: Austin during a briefing in Tallinn, quoted Ukrinform
Direct speech: “I want to make one thing clear to the Estonian people today: The United States will continue to be unwaveringly committed to the freedom and sovereignty of our Baltic allies.”
Details: Austin stressed that the United States will continue to work with the Baltic countries to strengthen containment of any threats to overall security in the region.
He recalled that President Biden had previously announced a decision to strengthen the American military presence in the Baltic countries.
In this context, he noted that an additional HIMARS platoon, as well as a motorized infantry company, are already deployed in Estonia, which are conducting joint exercises with the country’s national defense forces in order to strengthen the interoperability and security of Estonia and NATO.
In addition, Austin expressed his expectation that the NATO summit in Vilnius in July this year will make even more progress in terms of defense initiatives.
