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At his meeting in Washington on 22 September, Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius discussed Lithuanian and transatlantic security.

The head of the Lithuania foreign office took part in a debate of US think tanks, the Atlantic Council, the Heritage Foundation, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, represented by Alexander Vershbow, Dan Fried, Magnus Nordenman, Heather Conley, Dakota Woods and met with the former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State, Victoria Nuland.

Mr Minister underlined that the offensive and non-transparent Russia-Belarus military exercises could not be considered finished until all Russian military troops and equipment did not return to their usual places of deployment.

Mr Minister said, “In a broad sense, we have been observing “Zapad” exercises for several years as we see ungrounded and high military activity that is not transparent.”

During the debate, the security experts dwelt on tangible measures that might strengthen the security of the whole region, discussed the NATO adaptation initiative, the significance of strengthening transatlantic ties, and support to Ukraine in its fight against the external aggressor.

“Today as never before, the world needs transatlantic unity and moral leadership,” Mr Minister noted.

Minister Linkevičius also drew attention to the danger imminent in hybrid threats by saying, “Be it information attacks underpinned by lies or the Ostrovets Nuclear Power Plant being built in close vicinity of Lithuania, we must be prepared with an appropriate response to a new type of threats.”

While on his visit to the capital of the US, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister gave interviews to The New York Times, Voice of America, and The Daily Signal.