Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held an enhanced honor cordon and quadrilateral meeting today at the Pentagon, welcoming Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur, Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds and Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė.
During the meeting, the Baltic states pledged to meet the target of 5% of their gross domestic product for defense spending, which Hegseth said serves as a reminder to the entire NATO alliance of its responsibilities. The defense secretary thanked his counterparts from the Baltic states for their friendship, support and respect for U.S. troops, as well as their leadership by example.
"The United States remains fully committed to NATO, and together, we're achieving peace through strength in Europe by setting the conditions for negotiated lasting peace in Ukraine, establishing sustainable deterrence and increasing ally capabilities and interoperability," he said.
The United States has numerous obligations around the world, including defending the homeland and deterring war in the Indo-Pacific region, Hegseth said, adding that this is why European investment in its own conventional defense is more important than ever.
"Your efforts to modernize and invest in new military capabilities are critical to deterring attacks and building readiness," he said.
The secretary also thanked the defense ministers for hosting multinational training exercises, which bolster collective readiness.
"I'm also glad that our deployed HIMARS have been able to help with your troops on training ahead of receiving your own HIMARS equipment," he said, referring to the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
"This cooperation accelerates our ability to defend countries with capable systems," Hegseth added.
Pevkur said the meeting today was a testimony to the strong and trusted partnership between the Baltic states and the United States.
"We are allies who are willing to strengthen our common defense, and we are more than determined to continue this very close cooperation. We stand up for one another, and we defend each other when it's needed. This is what brotherhood-in-arms truly means," he said.
Sprūds agreed with his Estonian counterpart, adding that "In these challenging times, it is important that we are becoming much more efficient and lethal."
The United States plays a key role in NATO's Article 5, he said, which established the principle of collective defense.
Šakalienė said, "Every one — every single one — of United States troops is one of our own in Lithuania, and we do deeply care about them. We do deeply care about our friendship, and we consider them family."
She also urged other NATO nations to follow the lead of the Baltic states in increasing their defense investment to meet the 5% of GDP military spending target.
Lithuania, she said, has invested in U.S.-made systems, including HIMARS, Black Hawk helicopters, Switchblade loitering munitions, Joint Light Tactical Vehicles and Javelin missiles.