Lithuania confident of US security guarantee over Russia

From left, Lithuania's Defense Minister Raimundas Karoblis, Norway's Defense Minister Ine Marie Eriksen Soreide, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, Dutch Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Belgium's Defense Minister Steven Vandeput and Luxembourg's Defense Minister Etienne Schneider pose before signing a european military cooperation agreements at NATO headquarters in Brussels, on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. (Francois Lenoir, Pool Photo via AP) (The Associated Press)

BRUSSELS – Lithuania's defense minister says he is confident that all NATO allies will help protect his country from Russia despite concerns about the U.S. commitment to European security.

Raimundas Karoblis told The Associated Press Thursday that he had no doubts about "the solidarity from any NATO country, including the United States."

U.S. President Donald Trump caused anxiety at NATO with his election campaign suggestion that he might not help defend countries that don't pay their fair share.

Karoblis said the deployment of NATO troops to Lithuania, which borders Russia's Kaliningrad territory, is "a really powerful measure of the deterrence" the allies are providing.

He said that any "potential invader" of the Baltic States is now "calculating the consequences."