US President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that some American forces deployed in Europe would be moved to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, describing the deployments as purely defensive.

Biden made the announcement in a speech in which he added that the move was a defensive one, ERR reports.

“I say clearly, these are our defences,” the US president said in a speech, adding “we have no intention of fighting Russia.”

A US defence official has been quoted by Reuters that the redeployments will include 800 infantry soldiers to the Baltics and up to eight F-35 fighter jets to several operating locations along NATO's eastern flank.

Moreover, the US will send 32 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters to the Baltic region and to Poland from locations within Europe, according to the anonymous source.

The move comes in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision on Monday to recognise the two self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and ordering Russian troops into the separatist-held regions.

The US has stationed battalion-size army units of around 500 troops in Lithuania on a rotational basis since 2019.

Lithuanian politicians on Tuesday welcomed US President Biden's decision to send additional forces to the Baltic states.

“The Baltic states are reliable allies and such a decision will significantly boost our security situation,” Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas posted on Facebook.

According to him, although Lithuania is now home to the strongest NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group, a US battalion and NATO's air policing mission, the country seeks permanent American presence.

Conservative MP Laurynas Kasčiūnas, chairman of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence, says the US president's move is very important for strengthening the deterrence architecture against Russia.

“Lithuania has been seeking that since the start of this regional security crisis caused by Russia. The issue was also raised by our parliamentary delegation when we visited US Congress two weeks ago,” the lawmaker posted on Facebook.

“We have always been of the position that the greatest possible deployment of forward presence troops in the Baltic states and permanent, uninterrupted American military presence should be part of the deterrence architecture. Moreover, the security situation is changing after Russia deployed 30,000 of its troops in Belarus,” he said.

“It is very important and it in fact comes in response to the issue we have been raising for some time, the problem underlined by the Baltic states and Poland that the status of Belarus is becoming completely different from what we were used to seeing when joint army drills with Russia would be held from time to time,” Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė told reporters on Wednesday.

In her words, the Baltic region never believed that Russia's armed forces were coming to Belarus only temporarily for drills.

“We were rather sure that it would be the way it is now, that troops and equipment would stay indefinitely, which is changing the security situation in the region and we need to pay additional attention to defence and deterrence, therefore, it's the first step I very much welcome,” Šimonytė said.

Lithuania's President Gitanas Nausėda has also welcomed the deployment of additional US military forces.

“It’s an important decision boosting security in the Baltic region, which reflects the seriousness of the situation,” he said in a comment to BNS.

In his words, stronger NATO's eastern flank means safer Europe.

“I appreciate transatlantic solidarity & preparedness to act,” Nausėda tweeted on Tuesday.