Major General Jonas Vytautas Žukas

The headquarters of a new motorized infantry brigade will be situated in the Lithuanian western port of Klaipėda in 2016, Chief of Defence of Lithuania Major General Jonas Vytautas Žukas says. It will be a second brigade in the Lithuanian army.

The Lithuanian army will hold exercises to improve interoperability of Lithuanian institutions without the assistance of NATO allies, Chief of Defence of Lithuania Major General Jonas Vytautas Žukas said on Tuesday, presenting the upcoming national Exercise Lighting Strike 2015.

When attending the NATO Week opening event at the National University of Defence of Ukraine Minister of National Defence Juozas Olekas underlined that the Russian war in Ukraine had become an alarm signal for the whole of Europe and NATO, Lithuania's Ministry of National Defence reports.

Lithuanian Minister of National Defence Juozas Olekas and Chief of Defence Major General Jonas Vytautas Žukas are leaving for Ukraine on Monday for an official visit.

Lithuania's Armed Forces and the United States government are in talks about leaving some of the US weaponry in Lithuania, Chief of Defence Major General Jonas Vytautas Žukas says.

On 31 March, soldiers of the Portuguese Armed Forces arrived in Lithuania for combined training as part of NATO reassurance measures in the Baltic region, Lithuania's Ministry of National Defence reports.

A bill on the restoration of military conscription will be brought before the Seimas of Lithuania, parliament, on Thursday. Both the ruling and the opposition political groups have pledged their support.

After the State Defence Council decided that conscription of 19-26-year-olds should be reintroduced for a 5-year period and as the Seimas is preparing to consider the issue, Chief of Defence Major General Jonas Vytautas Žukas says Lithuania has learned five lessons from the conflict in Ukraine.

A dead soldier has been found during a training event in Pabradė, eastern Lithuania, on Tuesday, the country's Ministry of National Defence said.

Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces General Mieczyslaw Gocul arrived in Lithuania on Wednesday on a formal visit to discuss points of defence cooperation and security situation in the region.

The Lithuanian army assured on Wednesday that conscripts would not be sent to international missions abroad, refuting rumours spread by the Russian media, which, the Lithuanian chief of defence says, are aimed at discrediting the idea of restoring military conscription.

The State Defence Council, comprising of the Lithuanian president, prime minister, parliament speaker, defence minister and army chief, decided on Tuesday to reintroduce military conscription in Lithuania.

The Lithuanian army would be willing to buy from local producers but needs a good price-quality ratio that would match the market ratio, Chief of Defence of Lithuanian Major General Jonas Vytautas Žukas says.

Lithuania's Chief of Defence Major General Jonas Vytautas Žukas was on Monday assured by his German colleague, General Volker Wieker, that media reports about Berlin's alleged refusal to sell armoured trucks was incorrect.

A top NATO general will come to Vilnius on Tuesday and is scheduled to meet with the Lithuanian army leadership to discuss the security situation in the region and the deployment of NATO capabilities in the country.

Lithuania's Armed Forces should step up its artillery capacities by purchasing 155mm self-propelled howitzers, Chief of Defence Major General Jonas Vytautas Žukas said on Tuesday.

On 29-30 January, Chief of Defence of Lithuania Major General Jonas Vytautas Žukas is attending the annual Nordic-Baltic Chiefs of Defence meeting in Kongsvinger, Norway, Lithuania's Armed Forces said.

NATO's Military Committee on Thursday gave a green light to the establishment of international military staffs in Lithuania and five other countries in Central and Eastern Europe, and will submit the proposal to defence ministers, Lithuania's Chief of Defense Major General Jonas Vytautas Žukas confi...

Chiefs of defence of NATO member-states are opening a two-day meeting in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss additional security measures for the Alliance's Eastern members, including the Baltic states.

The Lithuanian military has cancelled higher level of readiness in its units on duty, the Rapid Response Force and some peacetime operations units, which was increased on 7 December.