BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Germany has committed to deploy a permanent brigade in Lithuania, purchase a sizable number of F-35 Lightning II fighter jets fom the U.S., and increase its defense spending.
In 2022, Germany agreed to buy 35 F-35 aircraft from the United States.
These commitments were made by visiting German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius during a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon Monday, according to the U.S. Defense Department.
The German army plans to station some 4,800 military personnel in Lithuania, along with civilian personnel. That brigade will eventually include a mechanized infantry battalion, a tank battalion and the multinational 'Enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup Lithuania.' Pistorius said the brigade will reach full operational capability by 2027.
Pistorius reiterated Germany's continued commitment not only to the partnership with the U.S., but to NATO and European security as well.
'Let me assure you once more, Germany will continue to play a strong role and a reliable role in the alliance,' Pistorius told Hegseth. 'We are firmly committed to fair burden sharing, and to building a more capable, more reliable, more resilient Europe with NATO.'
'In response to the shift in security landscape, Germany and our European allies have taken significant steps to reinforce European contributions within NATO,' he said. 'We have committed to substantially increasing our defense investments, reaching 5% of our GDP by 2035.'
The German defense minister said it's understood that Germany would reach 3.5% of its GDP in core defense spending by 2029.
Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Hegseth and other officials also met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House to discuss how the U.S. plans to support Ukraine going forward. That plan involves the U.S. providing weapons to Ukraine, which NATO will pay for. Trump said Germany has agreed to provide some of its own missiles to Ukraine, which NATO will eventually replace.
Rutte added that Germany has stepped up 'massively' to help keep Ukraine strong and to increase defense industrial production.
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