(Bloomberg) — Lithuania’s top security body signaled it would purchase German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks as the Baltic nation moves to establish an army division by 2030 aimed at deterring Russian aggression.

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The State Defense Council, which includes the president, the prime minister and other ministers, instructed the Defense Ministry to begin talks with German producers about the pending tank purchase. The council didn’t provide further details about the size of any order.

“The most effective tank platform that meets the full range of criteria set by Lithuania is the German Leopard 2 tank,” Kestutis Budrys, the security adviser to President Gitanas Nauseda, told reporters in Vilnius Tuesday.

The council also agreed to raise the number of conscripts by 2,000 in the nation of 2.8 million, up from 3,800, for nine months of service, moving Lithuania closer to universal conscription.

An existing tank-procurement agreement sealed by the German government with defense manufacturers last year includes the option to purchase as many as 105 additional Leopard tanks in a deal worth as much as €2.9 billion. Among European allies, the Czech Republic has voiced interest in joining a Leopard 2-A8 procurement.

–With assistance from Michael Nienaber.

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