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

The future presence of U.S. troops in Lithuania is "under review", the Baltic country's defence 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, Defence 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.