Lithuania should join US coalition in Strait of Hormuz, president says

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda gives doorstep comments at the Joint Expeditionary Force JEF Leaders' Summit in Helsinki, Finland March 26, 2026. The topics on the agenda include support from the JEF countries to Ukraine and the overall security situation in Europe. Lehtikuva/Emmi Korhonen via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS. FINLAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN FINLAND.

VILNIUS, April ⁠30 (Reuters) - Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda said ⁠he was supportive of his ‌country joining the U.S. freedom of navigation mission in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that ​he would present the ⁠proposal to the ⁠Baltic state's defence council.

The United States is ⁠pushing ‌for other countries to help restore freedom of navigation ⁠in the Strait of Hormuz, according ​to ‌a State Department cable seen by ⁠Reuters, as ​oil prices surged to their highest in more than four years on ⁠fears of longer-term disruptions ​to global fuel supplies.

"We have received the U.S. proposal to join the Hormuz ⁠Strait navigation restoration coalition, and I intend to shortly present this proposal to the State Defence Council," the ​president told a news ⁠conference in Vilnius on Thursday.

"We would ​need a mandate from ‌parliament," he added.

(Reporting by ​Andrius Sytas, writing by Louise Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik)