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Lithuania expects U.S. investments on security: president

Xinhua, August 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said on Tuesday her country expected a lot from the U.S. investments on the Baltic states' security.

On Tuesday, the Lithuanian president is travelling to Latvian capital Riga to meet U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden as well as Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis and President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves. The Baltic leaders and the U.S. vice president are to discuss regional security issues.

Grybauskaite said Lithuania expected a lot from the U.S. investments on the security of the region after the NATO summit in Warsaw in July.

"It is very important for us, therefore we will discuss what else the U.S. could do for the Baltic states and the whole region on the side of NATO common decisions," Grybauskaite said in an interview to Lithuanian national radio LRT which was aired on Tuesday, before leaving to Riga.

At the summit in the Polish capital last month, NATO leaders decided to send four battalions totaling around 4,000 soldiers to Poland and the Baltic states.

Grybauskaite said she expected the U.S. security commitments for the Baltic region to continue after the U.S. presidential elections.

"It is very important for us that the continuation remains. We're talking about deterrence, about the U.S. direct participation in all security strengthening issues in our region," said the Lithuanian president, noting that the discussions will include cyber and energy security in the region.

The meeting was held at the initiative of the U.S. vice president, according to the Lithuanian president's office.

The U.S. armed forces have been present in Lithuania and attending joint military exercises since 2014.

Lithuania and other Baltic states have asked for security support and stepped up their defense capabilities since tensions in the Eastern Europe emerged with conflicts in Eastern Ukraine. Endit