Lithuania says it would pay the cost if US establishes military base

VILNIUS, Oct 6 (Reuters) - ‌Lithuania is ​ready ​to pay the cost to set up a permanent US military ‌base if Washington should agree to establish ⁠one there, Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said on ‌Tuesday.

On Monday, US President ‌Donald Trump said he would consider Lithuania's request for a permanent base: "They are ​friends of mine, they are great people, so we will certainly look at ⁠it."

Lithuania, a member of the EU and NATO, borders Russia ​and Moscow's close ally Belarus. The United States has kept an armoured ​battalion of almost 1,000 ‌troops there since 2019, in overlapping rotations, meaning the troops arrive ⁠and leave every few months.

Sinkevicius said he proposed turning this into a permanent presence at ⁠a meeting with Trump's envoy John Coale last month ​in Vilnius.

"I'm glad that this idea is being taken seriously... This is a critically important guarantee ‌of deterrence and security," Sinkevicius wrote on Facebook.

"Our partners only need ‌to make the political decision to permanently ⁠station troops, and ‌Lithuania is ready ​to cover the costs involved."

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in VilniusEditing by Peter ‌Graff)

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