Estonian PM: Baltic states can be confident of US security guarantees

TALLINN - The Baltic countries can be confident of the security guarantees of the United States, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said after a meeting of Baltic leaders with US President Joe Biden.

Kallas, Latvian President Egils Levits and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda met with Biden on the margins of the NATO summit in Brussels, spokespeople for the Estonian government said. At the meeting, the prime minister of Estonia and the heads of state of Latvia and Lithuania confirmed close allied relations with the United States and cooperation in an increasingly complex security environment.

Kallas stressed that the military presence of the United States in Europe and the Baltic States is critical to our security.

"US leadership in NATO is indispensable. We can rely on the US security guarantees," the Estonian premier said.

"NATO's technological lead must be maintained. Including to address the threats posed by evolving technologies," Kallas said, and invited Biden to attend the Tallinn Digital Summit in September, at which the inclusion of trust-based and transparency-based capital for the development of infrastructure and digital connections will be discussed, among other things.