Lithuania, other US partners will need to 'move at Trump's speed' – FM

VILNIUS – The Trump administration wants first and foremost to address domestic issues pointed out during the election campaign, and it will need partners, which may include Lithuania, on the international arena, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys says after his recent visit to Washington.

"One piece of advice I heard was to take President Trump very seriously, but not literally, and get involved. It is a big mistake to take everything literally but not seriously," Budrys posted on his Facebook account on Monday, adding that US partners will have to "move at Trump's speed".

According to the foreign minister, Trump's second term in office is different in the fact that just watching will not be enough: "I heard the call for proposals and solutions as the US needs like-minded countries."

Lithuania has the potential to "create good deals" with the US, Budrys pointed out.

"We are already proposing what would be a good deal for peace in Ukraine, to make it fair and sustainable. We need to consider how we will contribute to security in the Arctic or to mutually beneficial energy trade, to mobilize like-minded people in Europe, and to engage in dialogue with the US as early as possible. This will certainly help us to better defend our interests to ensure more security and prosperity for Lithuania," Lithuania's top diplomat said.

In his words, the new Trump administration is essentially trying to solve the problems identified during the election campaign, including immigration, technological competition, energy dependence, the heavy burden on the US in terms of international security, and an inefficient public sector.

"Other issues will be secondary on the agenda. This does not mean that our national security interests are different. On the contrary, they overlap in many areas - from stability and security in Europe, stopping Russia's imperialist aggression, reducing China's ability to dominate, to the physical destruction of terrorist organizations," Budrys said.

"Lithuania is only getting more opportunities to pursue our interests, especially on security," he noted, adding that the United States will need strong partners to tackle international challenges.

"The United States faces a number of global security threats, both from the revisionist China-Russia-Iran-North Korea axis and from regional powers. The US will need partners to respond to all these challenges. Partners will need to be capable and willing to engage. A weak or indecisive partner is itself a problem to be solved. It would be a mistake to see this as neo-isolationism," Budrys said after what he called two intensive days of meetings in Washington with representatives of the US administration, Congress and "right-wing think tanks".