Reuters. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday (February 16) that the United States was ready to defend the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania if required.
"The United States remains steadfastly committed to the freedom and sovereignty of our Baltic allies," Austin told a news conference in Tallinn after talks with Estonian leaders.
"We stand united with you to deter and defend against any threat to our common security," he added.
He also said that the Russian military actions in Ukraine had reinforced NATO.
"Putin thought that he could divide NATO, but his aggression achieved just the opposite. The NATO alliance is more united and stronger than I have ever seen it."
Estonia, a NATO and EU member, is a leading country in aid to Ukraine, its defence minister said, but that they should do more.
"The United States is the biggest contributor (to Ukraine) in absolute terms, Estonia is in relative terms... Estonia's military assistance to Ukraine recently exceeded 1% of our GDP. Still, we can and must do more," he said.
