US troops arrived Saturday [26 Apr 2014] in Lithuania, part of a US contingent of 600 sent to the region to reassure NATO allies amid the escalating Ukraine crisis.<\/p>\n
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite hailed the arrival of American forces as a “deterrence measure” in the region where alarm has risen over Russia’s actions in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
“We know in this situation who our real friends are coming to help,” Grybauskaite told reporters, after around 150 troops from the 173rd Airborne Brigade landed at the Siauliai air base.<\/p>\n
“If any of our guests are injured, it would mean an open confrontation not with Lithuania but with the United States,” she added.<\/p>\n
The American troops will participate in a series of exercises throughout the year, according to the Lithuanian defence ministry.<\/p>\n
Another company of soldiers arrived in Poland on Wednesday and in Latvia on Friday and a further 150 are due in Estonia on Monday.<\/p>\n
Washington on Tuesday said it was sending the 600 troops to the region to increase its presence in the region and reassure its NATO allies and partners.<\/p>\n
NATO has also stepped up air patrols over the Baltic states which spent five decades under Soviet occupation until 1991 and joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in 2004.<\/p>\n