Russia's neighbor reveals personal appeals to Trump as US weighs NATO troop pullback in Europe

By Fox News · Fox News

NEW YORK — Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda revealed Monday he personally pleaded with President Donald Trump to maintain U.S. forces on NATO’s eastern flank as Washington reviews its military footprint in Europe. Meanwhile, Russia’s war in Ukraine has raged on for more than 4½ years and raised questions about how far Moscow will push into the continent. Nausėda said during remarks at a fireside chat moderated by Fox News Digital at the Presidential Business Forum on Resilience on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly New York that Lithuania is prepared to provide "very generous host nation support" for American forces to remain in the region. "I personally sent two letters to the president," Nausėda said of the plea to keep an American troops' presence. PENTAGON CUTS BRIGADE COMBAT TEAMS IN EUROPE AS TRUMP PRESSURES NATO ON SPENDING The Pentagon has already begun scaling back some forces and capabilities in Europe, while reported options under review could remove tens of thousands more troops. The review is part of a broader Pentagon strategy to shift primary responsibility for Europe’s conventional defense onto European allies, while reserving a more limited U.S. role. But Washington has also signaled that its retrenchment may not be uniform: Trump said last week that the U.S. was making progress toward a permanent Army base in Poland, one of NATO’s highest-spending members. That has left frontline allies trying to determine where they fit in with an emerging U.S. strategy that calls for a smaller overall role in Europe while deepening ties with countries Washington views as carrying more of the burden. The review also comes as Russia’s war with Ukraine has increasingly spilled into NATO territory. RUSSIA PREPARING HYBRID ATTACKS ON NATO'S EASTERN FLANK, INTELLIGENCE WARNS Lithuania experienced that threat firsthand last week when NATO fighters shot down a drone that crossed into Lithuanian airspace from Belarus. Nausėda later said the aircraft…