SIAULIAI, Lithuania, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Lithuania would be ready to permanently deploy the U.S. long-range air defense system Patriot if such a decision would be taken by NATO, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said on Thursday.
She was visiting Lithuania's Siauliai Air Base, northern Lithuania, where the Patriot system was presented as part of the military exercise Tobruq Legacy 2017.
"Maybe it is not so important if the systems are deployed in Poland or in the Baltic states. However, sometimes the speed of response to the threat is very important, thus it would be purposeful to have such a weaponry in the Baltics as it would ensure better security for all the states," Grybauskaite added.
According to Grybauskaite, the deployment of the system demonstrates strong commitment of the United States and NATO to the Baltic region.
"The fact that the multinational ground-based air defense Exercise Tobruq Legacy 2017 is held in Lithuania shows that neither exercises of this kind nor deployment of strategic air defense systems in Lithuania is a taboo any longer," Raimundas Karoblis, Lithuania's minister of national defense, said during the event in Siauliai.
The Tobruq Legacy 2017 exercise began in July 11 and will end on July 22.
