Raimundas Karoblis, Lithuania’s defense minster, said he is reassured by the deployment of NATO troops to his country and the Baltics, but would prefer an allied brigade “in each member state” to better deter Russia during an interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. Karoblis also said Russia constitutes a wide-ranging conventional threat to the alliance and discusses Lithuania’s defense priorities, acquisition programs, conscription and cooperation with its neighbors. The discussion was taped in Washington on June 8, 2017, one day before President Donald Trump reasserted the US commitment to NATO’s Article V mutual defense clause.
