VILNIUS, Jun 25, BNS – The presence of US troops in Lithuania is a political decision and it remains to be seen how it will be implemented, General Jorg Vollmer, commander of Allied Joint Force Command (JFC) Brunssum, said when asked by BNS what Lithuania could expect in the near future in terms of the presence of US troops in the country.

"It's a political decision and we will see how this political decision then will be implemented. I have no ideas at all how this political decision will be put into practice," the top NATO officer said during his visit to Lithuania on Thursday.

Lithuanian Chief of defense Lieutenant General Valdemaras Rupsys says the United States, having recently withdrawn troops from Lithuania due to the coronavirus, plans to deploy them in the country as early as August and later in the fall, with that also expected in the spring.

"We will now have an air defense exercise in late August, and US defense units will be deployed in Lithuania. And then unit will probably be deployed for a shooting exercise in Pabrade in the fall. We hope them to participate in our military exercises in the spring as well," Rupsys told journalists.

US President Donald Trump welcomed Polish President Andrzej Duda in Washington on Wednesday and said Washington plans to move pat of its troops from Germany to Poland.

Rupsys says there's no specific decision to move American troops from Germany to Poland yet.

"There's no decision yet. These are more of political statements. Our interest is to have Americans in Europe," he said.

An American battalion was deployed in Lithuania since October and the American troops brought around 30 Abrams tanks, over 20 Bradley IFVs and other military equipment.

The American troops had planned to end their mission last spring but the coronavirus pandemic forced them to change their plans and the American mission was officially completed in the middle of June.

Lithuanian National Defense Minister Raimundas Karbolis has said earlier that the presence of American troops in Lithuania and joined exercises with Lithuanian troops and troops from the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence Battalion are the best deterrence measure.

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