Future presence of US troops in Lithuania is ‘under review,’ says minister

VILNIUS — The future presence of U.S. troops in Lithuania is “under review”, the Baltic country’s defense minister said on Tuesday, adding that although Washington had assured him new rotations would arrive, he did not know when and at what strength.

The U.S. is withdrawing thousands of troops based in Germany and Poland as the rift between the administration of President Donald Trump and its NATO allies and partners in Europe over the Iran war widens.

In Lithuania, U.S. troops presently stationed in the country are now leaving as expected, but the next scheduled group is not arriving, Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas said.

“(The next) rotation is currently under review ... because the number of (U.S. troops) in Europe is changing, this naturally leads to a review of regional stance”, Kaunas told reporters in Vilnius.

The move would leave Lithuania without an armored U.S. battalion of about 1,000 troops on its soil for the first time since 2020.

The minister said he had discussed the situation with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Shangri-La Dialogue conference in Singapore last week.

“We have assurance that (the next rotation in Lithuania) will arrive, but when exactly, and with which capabilities, and at what size — this is due to be announced," said Kaunas.

“We were reassured that the Baltic region is of critical importance to NATO and the U.S., they see our investment, and our defense spending is shown as an example to other allies,” he added.

Lithuania, which borders Russia, has tripled its defense spending since 2022, and is due to spend 5.4% of its gross domestic product on defense this year.

The current U.S. rotation, which arrived in October 2025, consists of two battalions of Texas-based 1st Cavalry Division, with Abrams tanks, Bradley armored vehicles and Paladin tracked self-propelled howitzers, the Lithuanian defense ministry said.

The troops were the first to be based at the new permanent facilities which Lithuania built for them at Pabrade military base, close to the Belarus border.

维尔纽斯——立陶宛国防部长周二表示，美国军队未来在立陶宛的存在“正在审查中”。他补充说，尽管华盛顿方面向他保证会有新的轮换部队抵达，但他不知道何时以及兵力如何。

随着美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的政府与北约盟友和欧洲伙伴之间因伊朗战争而产生的裂痕不断扩大，美国正在从德国和波兰撤出数千名士兵。

立陶宛国防部长罗伯塔斯·考纳斯表示，目前驻扎在立陶宛的美军正在按计划撤离，但下一批预定抵达的美军却未能如期抵达。

“（下一次）轮换目前正在审查中……因为（驻欧美军）人数正在发生变化，这自然会导致对地区立场的重新审视”，考纳斯在维尔纽斯告诉记者。

此举将使立陶宛自 2020 年以来首次失去驻扎在其境内的约 1000 名美军装甲营。

这位部长表示，他上周在新加坡举行的香格里拉对话会议上与美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯讨论了这一情况。

考纳斯说：“我们有保证（下一批轮换部队）会抵达立陶宛，但具体时间、具备哪些能力、规模如何——这些都将在稍后公布。”

“我们确信波罗的海地区对北约和美国至关重要，他们看到了我们的投资，我们的国防开支也向其他盟友树立了榜样，”他补充道。

与俄罗斯接壤的立陶宛自 2022 年以来国防开支增加了两倍，今年国防开支预计将占国内生产总值的 5.4%。

立陶宛国防部表示，目前美国轮换部队将于 2​​025 年 10 月抵达，其中包括驻扎在德克萨斯州的第一骑兵师的两个营，装备有艾布拉姆斯坦克、布雷德利装甲车和帕拉丁履带式自行榴弹炮。

这些部队是第一批驻扎在立陶宛为他们在靠近白俄罗斯边境的帕布拉德军事基地建造的新永久设施中的部队。