President Donald Trump has pushed for increased military burden-sharing with Europe since returning to office earlier this year, with NATO allies agreeing last month to boost their defense spending.

"Europe is preparing to take responsibility for its own defense. You asked us to do that, and finally we are moving ahead," Andrius Kubilius said in a speech in Washington.

"We are recognizing that you, Americans, have really the right and the reason in the longer-term perspective to start to shift more and more towards the Indo-Pacific in order to mitigate Chinese rising military power," he said.

"We Europeans need to ramp up our defense capabilities," the former Lithuanian prime minister said, adding: "That is what we are doing."

The United States has for years identified China as its primary military rival and has sought to shift its focus and additional military assets to Asia.

But unrest in the Middle East has repeatedly pulled American attention back to that region, with US assets being shifted -- at least temporarily -- away from Asia as a result.