Amid US-European strain, Lithuanian defense minister cements ties with US industry ‘giants’

Lithuanian Minister of Defense, Dovile Sakaliene, speaks to the press on Jan. 22, 2025 in Vilnius. (Photo by Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — As Europe rushes to reasses its reliance on American security guarantees and to dramatically boost military spending, Lithuania’s defense minister personally worked to cement ties not only with US policymakers but with another key constituency: US defense contractors.

Armed with a red folder containing a veritable shopping list of defense systems and billions of dollars to pay for them, Dovilė Šakalienė said she recently met with executives from major firms, including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX and AM General. The meetings, she said, were part of a broader effort to speedily boost Lithuania’s defense capability in the face of an ever-increasing threat from Russia — and to draw the influential firms closer to Vilnius.

Further Russian aggression beyond Ukraine, including potentially in Lithuania, “worries us,” Šakalienė told reporters in a roundtable at the Lithuanian embassy Friday. “That’s why we are really pushing forward with our military capability plans, with our defense capacity-building, infrastructure and personnel and acquisitions, from weapons to ammo, building factories, defense industries …

“And actually all the good talks that I had with defense industry giants in the United States is something that, in my opinion, is a very positive element in our preparation,” she said. “I’m very happy about it, these meetings. … We require a lot from them.”

Šakalienė said Lithuania has done $2 billion-worth of business with American defense firms in the past three years and has “need” for “at least $8 billion” more in “coming years” — a consequence of Vilnius’s decision in January to boost defense spending to 5 to 6 percent of its GDP beginning in 2026.

“And we are happy to build factories together. We are happy to [be] part of [the] supply chain. And that’s what we discussed,” she said, adding that the companies have been invited to come to Lithuania to explore on-the-ground opportunities there. “Actually I feel like the United States defense industry feels that partnership with European countries and specifically with Lithuania is something that is mutually beneficial. We are a market and we are a partner in defense, so I hope it works.”

Members of the Lithuanian Armed Forces view a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) of Kilo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, firing during exercise Swift Response 24, Kairiai Training Site, Lithuania, May 9, 2024. (U.S Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Kanoa Thomas)

The push to forging deeper ties with US industry also builds off Lithuania’s Memorandum of Understanding with Northrop Grumman last year, which involves the manufacturer supporting local suppliers in the production of medium-caliber ammunition for Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs). Sakaliene noted that Lithuania already has Europe’s largest fleet of Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, those made by Oshkosh Defense.

Later in the discussion when asked by Breaking Defense exactly what Lithuania planned to spend the money on, Šakalienė held up a red manila folder.

“We want to develop a full-fledged capacity and capability to be able to work very well with the joint NATO forces, with our sister divisions, with capabilities that the United States will be providing, according to regional defense plans,” she said. “So we are developing our land forces, our air defense, our engineering capabilities, and it’s from rockets and air defense systems, artillery systems, helicopters, radars, drones … and additional enablers.”

Sitting beside Šakalienė, Ministry of Defense spokesperson Ignas Grinevičius added, “And we’re paying in advance to get it quicker, as soon as possible.”

Lithuania’s strategic approach to strengthening business with the US comes amid a decisive shift by the European Union to rearm the continent at pace by investing more in the region’s defense industry and while member states and other NATO allies rethink equipment planning decisions in light of Washington’s pivot to Russia.

US Guarantees ‘Vital’

In Lithuania, a country of 2.9 million that has been occupied by Russian forces twice in modern times, to even question the idea of US security protection is “extremely sensitive,” Šakalienė said elsewhere in the talk.

She said “everyone” takes US security guarantees, or aid in the “worst case scenario” as “vital,” as a “life-or-death issue.”

Speaking days after the disastrous White House meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, US President Donald Trump and his top officials and the subsequent freezing of US military aid and intelligence sharing to Kyiv, Šakalienė said there are “different interpretations” of America’s current stance towards European security.

She acknowledged that it was all “quite stressful” for her countrymen, but she at least has been heartened by two factors: the developments have shocked Europe into a keen understanding that they must do more for their own security — for which Šakalienė said Lithuania has been long ahead of the curve — and that at least in his term so far as president, Trump has not said he would not honor America’s commitments to the Baltic states.

Trump did say last week that if NATO members “don’t pay,” the US would not come to their defense. But the Baltic nations are among NATO members who spend the most on defense by GDP and would presumably be safe from such a threat.

As for a potential ceasefire deal for the Ukraine conflict, Šakalienė floated the idea that the West should seize $200 billion in frozen Russian assets (elsewhere reported as €200 billion or $216.7 billion) to use as a “safeguard” for any agreement.

Added Larger European nations are divided over the issue. The UK has consistently said the assets should be unlocked by the West but France and Germany have raised objections, with Paris stressing that any such decision risks breaching sovereign asset immunity and curb EU investments from other foreign powers.

Holding those assets in the balance “could be a very viable and sensible thing to do,” said Šakalienė. “Putin has not yet tried the method of keeping the agreement, of not violating treaties. So maybe that would be a good safeguard to keep his word for the first time.”