VILNIUS, May 17. /TASS/. Lithuania will send its contingent of military and civilian specialists to the international coalition to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz only after the United States and Iran sign a peace deal, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said. 

"I don’t think that our military should take part in this mission amid the continuing conflict," he told reporters. "The idea is that free navigation will be ensured after Iran and the United States reach a [peace] agreement. As a matter of fact, this (the mission - TASS) should be carried out in the peaceful environment."

On May 11, Lithuania’s president-chaired State Defense Council approved the deployment of 40 defense ministry’s military and civilian personnel to an international mission to ensure free passage in the Strait of Hormuz. According to Lithuania’s Chief of Defense Raimundas Vaiksnoras, Lithuania will send staff officers and demining specialists.

This issue will now be submitted to the country’s parliament.