Lithuania expecting U.S. decision on heavy weapons deployment: officials

Lithuania is expecting decisions from the United States on the deployment of its heavy weapons in the Baltic country, according to the Lithuanian defense minister on Monday.

"We expect that decisions may be made as early as this year, so that the military equipment, such as heavy equipment, fighting vehicles, tanks, could be stationed in Lithuania," Juozas Olekas, defense minister of Lithuania, told local television station LRT on Monday.

"Lithuania is working to facilitate the deployment and stationing, furthermore, we are willing to provide our military infrastructure for the military equipment," Olekas said.

He noted the heavy weapons could be deployed in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and some other Eastern European countries.

BNS news agency reported this would be the first time since the end of the Cold War that the United States would deploy heavy military equipment, including combat tanks, in the region.

According to Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite on Monday, the U.S. Senate had announced its intentions as early as February of this year.

Further steps of the deployment still needed a green light from the White House and the U.S. defense secretary, BNS reported.

After conflicts started in Ukraine, NATO sent more troops and held more military exercises in Lithuania and its neighboring countries. The planned deployment of heavy weapons would be to enhance NATO's presence in the Baltic region. Endit