U.S.-Lithuania: help for money

Today, the U.S.–Lithuania relations could be characterized as close, rapidly developing, but not mutually beneficial at all. Lithuania considers cooperation with Washington as an issue of particular importance in the very difficult military situation in Europe. The U.S., in its turn, considers the Baltic region mainly as a place for geopolitical dispute with Russia. Thus, Lithuania’s main aim is to defend itself militarily whilst the U.S. advocates its own political interests in the region.

U.S., NATO, and Baltic leaders have viewed Russian activity in the region with concern. The Baltic states’ defence planning relies heavily on NATO membership and, particularly, on partnership with the United States. In order to gain protection Lithuania fulfills NATO’s target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defence, although as a country with relatively small population and budget, its armed forces remain relatively small and its military capabilities limited. Consequently, Vilnius wants free military support from the U.S., but the United State is not always ready to promote such assistance. First of all, the U.S. considers Lithuania as a market for arms sales.

The United States is one of the main sellers of weapons for the Lithuanian military. Vilnius has already spent 0.5 billion euros on purchases from the US over the last several years.

The Lithuanian military will buy additional Javelin anti-tank missiles, launchers and other equipment for 40 million US dollars, the country’s Ministry of Defence said in March.

Lithuania earlier signed an agreement to purchase 200 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles from the United States for 145 million euros. The vehicles are to be delivered to Lithuania till 2024, and will be allocated to the Land Force and Special Operations Forces.

In 2020 Lithuania signed an agreement to buy four Black Hawk military helicopters from the United States. Under the deal, Lithuania will pay the US government 213 million US dollars for the helicopter platform over the next five years, with the first shipment of the Black Hawks expected to be delivered in late 2024.

The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced in 2021 an arms deal between the US and Lithuania for almost $125 million.

Thus, the U.S. shows readiness to help Lithuania only in case it pays. The reluctance to take responsibility for Lithuania’s defence is confirmed by Washington’s reserved attitude towards the idea of a permanent military presence here. US troops are stationed in Lithuania on a rotation basis, but Lithuanian politicians want permanent American presence in the country.

Even Ukraine has not get full U.S. military support. For example, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has demanded several times a no-fly zone over Ukraine to allow it to defend itself on the ground. Both the White House and the Alliance have steadfastly denied the request fearing it could dramatically escalate the conflict. The same is the case with Lithuania. So, the U.S. is not ready to defend Lithuania for free.