"The annual NATO military exercises Steadfast Cobalt for supporting communications and information exchange by the communication groups of the alliance begin in Lithuania on May 21, the maneuvers will end on June 2," the statement read.
According to Lithuania's Armed Forces, the exercise will be attended by over 1,000 soldiers from 19 NATO states. The exercise is aimed at assessing the ability of communication units to ensure data exchange and maintenance of communication among NATO Response Force (NRF) tactical units, joint and component headquarters.
The exercises command will be located in the Lithuanian city of Panemune.
In 2014, Lithuania hosted Steadfast Cobalt exercises which took place in the city of Kaunas.
Vilnius has been actively engaged in NATO's activities over the past years. At the summit in Warsaw in July 2016, NATO decided to send international battalions to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to deter alleged Russian aggression. Reacting to NATO's move, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow has no plans to attack any NATO member.
