According to the President, last week's meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington started a new stage of strategic cooperation between the Baltic countries and the United States, which covers critical security and defence issues as well as cyber and economic collaboration. It means, the President said, that the United States places a special focus on the region and Lithuania, supporting stronger security guarantees for their people.
"The United States has always been and continues to be Lithuania's most important partner and ally in ensuring regional security. More troops and armaments are being positioned in close proximity to Lithuania and the Baltic States. Large military exercises are conducted in their neighborhood. Therefore, NATO exercises and real presence in the region are crucially important. The security of the Nordic and Baltic region is in the common interest of Lithuania and the United States," the President said.
The political declaration signed by the Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian and U.S. presidents underscores that the United States has a profound interest in the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Baltic countries. It also reaffirms that the security of the United States and Europe is indivisible.
Cooperation between our countries within NATO is more intense than ever before, the President said. This autumn NATO will be conducting large-scale exercise Steadfast Jazz to test collective defence scenarios. A Nuclear Security Center has been opened in Medininkai with U.S. support. The United States has significantly contributed to accrediting the Vilnius-based Energy Security Center as a NATO center of excellence.
Dalia Grybauskaitė and John Kerry also discussed energy and cyber security, relations with Eastern Partnership countries and Russia, economic cooperation, and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations.
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