Chief of defense: training for Ukrainian troops to be organized in Lithuania

"To achieve maximum effect, we will soon organize military training for Ukrainian troops here in Lithuania," he told a press conference on Sunday. "We are ready to train their instructors to prepare them to work with the equipment that we ourselves operate, with the military equipment, machinery or weapons that we operate, and that knowledge, that training is necessary for them to carry out their operations in Ukraine."

On Sunday, Rupsys discussed this with visiting Chief of Staff of the US Army Forces General James C. McConville who is visiting Lithuania. The meeting covered regional threats, deterrence and defense implications, as well as regional plans and military cooperation between the countries.

"We have rotational forces here and our policy makers have said that they will defend every inch of NATO and they are working through what that will look like as far as rotational or permanent troops as we speak," McConville told the press conference.

The US is building up its military presence on the eastern flank since Russia started the war in Ukraine. The Americans plan to deploy a total of 400 additional troops in Lithuania, bringing in short-range air defense and self-propelled artillery systems. The US has also deployed F-35 fighter jets at Siauliai Air Base, and troops from the US Special Operations Forces (SOF) are serving in Lithuania.

US troops are rotated in Lithuania, and Lithuanian politicians are seeking a permanent American presence, as well as asking NATO and the US to ensure effective air defense in the region.