The United States is to end long-running military assistance along the EU's border with Russia as it pushes the continent to play a greater role in its own defence, a Lithuanian official confirmed on Friday.

"Last week, the US Defense Department informed the countries that, starting from its next financial period, funding will be reduced to zero," the defence policy director in Lithuania's defence ministry, Vaidotas Urbelis, told reporters.

The decision comes as US President Donald Trump struggles to end Moscow's three-and-a-half-year invasion of Ukraine.

Urbelis confirmed reports in The Washington Post and The Financial Times citing unnamed officials saying the move was part of Trump's efforts to cut US expenditure abroad.

The FT said US officials had told European diplomats las

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