14 Dec 2021 10:00 30 years ago

NATO backs Lithuania's position on withdrawal of Soviet troops

This news story first came out 30 years ago to the day, and we are publishing it today as part of Interfax's project, "Timeline of the Last Days of USSR. This Day 30 Years Ago." The project's goal is to reconstruct as fully as possible the timeline of the last few months of 1991 and to give everyone interested in understanding the historical processes of that period the opportunity to study and analyze the events that led to and accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of the new Russian state. The complete timeline can be found in Russian.


VILNIUS. Dec 14 (Interfax) – NATO fully supports Lithuania’s position regarding the withdrawal of Soviet troops, NATO Deputy Secretary General Simon Lunn said in an interview with a Lithuanian radio station.

Lunn is taking part in a seminar of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly on security of the Baltic region countries in Vilnius.

Lunn said he hoped that the seminar's participants would be able to elaborate security principles for the Baltic region "which will be acceptable for NATO, the Baltic States and the USSR."

The Soviet Union, prior to planning military activity of its contingents on Lithuanian territory, would take into account the fact that Lithuania is an associate NATO member, he said.