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

NEW YORK — Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda revealed Monday he personally pleaded with President Donald Trump to maintain U.S. forces on NATOs eastern flank as Washington reviews its military footprint in Europe.

Meanwhile, Russias 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.

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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 Europes 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 NATOs 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 Russias war with Ukraine has increasingly spilled into NATO territory.

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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 was likely Russian and intended for an attack on Ukraine before veering off course.

The country's intelligence services warn that Russia is already rebuilding military capabilities near NATO's eastern borders despite its losses in Ukraine.

Lithuania's 2026 National Threat Assessment found that a ceasefire or frozen conflict in Ukraine could accelerate that buildup, allowing Moscow to move more troops and equipment back toward permanent bases near the Baltic States and replenish weapons and ammunition depleted during the war. 

In that scenario, Lithuanian intelligence assessed Russia could eventually develop enough capability to launch military action against the Baltics and seek an initial regional advantage before NATO could fully respond.

Asked how much time NATO would have if a ceasefire were reached tomorrow, Nausėda declined to put a timeline on the threat but warned that "a ceasefire for Russia may mean" looking for new targets.

He said whether Moscow ultimately tests NATO would depend largely on the alliance's ability to strengthen its deterrence and demonstrate that it can defend its eastern flank.

Nausėda cast doubt on the prospect of near-term peace talks, saying that "for