Durbin Meets With Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Discusses U.S. Support For Baltic State And Ukraine
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Co-Chair of the bipartisan Senate Baltic Freedom Caucus, today met with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. During the meeting, they discussed continued U.S. support for the Baltics amid Russia’s aggression in the region and Putin’s efforts to undermine allied security and democracy. Durbin and Landsbergis also reaffirmed the transatlantic alliance amid the annual NATO Summit being hosted in Washington, D.C. this week.
“It was an honor to meet with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Landsbergis today and receive updates from the country my mother once called home,” said Durbin. “Thirty years after breaking free from the Soviets, Lithuania is a vibrant member of NATO, the European Union, and the community of democracies. And it notably provides a safe haven to Russian and Belarussian democratic voices. The U.S. will continue its strong partnership with Lithuania and its Baltic neighbors as they uphold these democratic values amid Russian, Belarussian, and Chinese belligerence.”
Photos of the meeting are available here.
Last year, Durbin traveled to Vilnius, Lithuania, for the 2023 NATO Summit with his Senate colleagues. In 2022, Durbin traveled to Vilnius, Lithuania, where he received the Aleksandras Stulginskis Star Award—the first American to receive this award. It was granted to Durbin for his decades-long support of Lithuanian independence and democracy and his promotion of parliamentary values. He was in Vilnius two years ago on the morning Russia launched its renewed invasion of Ukraine.
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