USA Withdraws Over Thousand Troops from Lithuania

The withdrawal of over a thousand US troops and their equipment from Lithuania has begun following the completion of the latest US Army rotational mission.

This is reported by Lithuanian and Polish media, including Polish Radio, commenting on the change in the rotation format of the American contingent.

This refers to a US Army unit of over 1,000 troops that was stationed in Lithuania as part of the reinforcement of NATO’s eastern flank.

Unlike in previous years, the new US contingent has not yet arrived in the country before the end of the previous rotation’s service.

This situation has drawn the attention of local experts and observers, as rotations previously took place without a break between unit changes.

Deividas Matulionis, the Lithuanian President’s National Security Advisor, stated that Vilnius has received assurances from Washington regarding the maintenance of the US military presence in the country.

“We have received very clear assurances from the American side that troops have been and will remain in Lithuania, though today I cannot specify their exact number,” Matulionis noted.

According to him, the Lithuanian government maintains trust in its US allies and does not view the current situation as a sign of a reduction in American commitments in the region.

US troops have been stationed in Lithuania on a rotational basis since 2019 as part of efforts to deter Russia and strengthen the defense of the Baltic states.

Following the outbreak of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war in 2022, the US military presence in Lithuania was expanded and shifted to a continuous rotational format.

Typically, reinforced battalion groups numbering over a thousand troops, along with armored vehicles, artillery, and support units, were deployed to the country.

Currently, neither the arrival date of the new US rotation nor its size has been officially announced, leaving open the question of the future format of the US presence in Lithuania.

As a reminder, earlier NATO issued a strong statement about a devastating response following the start of Russia’s nuclear exercises.