Berlin, March 19 (RHC)-- Germany plans to send 500 soldiers to Lithuania for military training this year to underline its commitment to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) amid tensions with Russia over the crisis in Ukraine.

Lithuania’s Ministry of National Defense said in a statement that German soldiers would be deployed to the former Soviet-ruled Baltic state from April through July. The statement added that separate units would also arrive in Lithuania for exercises from July through November.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Juozas Olekas, who recently discussed the deployment with German General Joerg Vollmer, said the plan was “a demonstration of NATO solidarity.” This comes as Berlin is planning to contribute soldiers to the NATO Force Integration Units (NFIUs) to be established in Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria, as well as Lithuania and its fellow Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia.

Several hundred airmen from Italy, Poland and Spain are currently deployed in NATO air policing patrols at bases in the three Baltic nations. The U.S. has also deployed 600 soldiers to Poland and the Baltic states, which neighbor Russia.