continue to participate in United States-led exercises to further promote coordination, cooperation, and interoperability among allies and partner countries, and continue to demonstrate their reliability and commitment to provide for their own defense. (10) Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia each hosts a respected NATO Center of Excellence that provides expertise to educate and promote NATO allies and partners in areas of vital interest to the alliance. (11) United States support and commitment to allies across Europe has been a lynchpin for peace and security on the continent for over 70 years. 3. Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress as follows: (1) The United States is committed to the security of the Baltic countries and should strengthen cooperation and support capacity-building initiatives aimed at improving the defense and security of such countries. (2) The United States should lead a multilateral effort to develop a strategy to deepen joint capabilities with Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, NATO allies, and other regional partners, to deter against aggression from the Russian Federation in the Baltic region, specifically in areas that would strengthen interoperability, joint capabilities, and military readiness necessary for Baltic countries to strengthen their national resilience. (3) The United States should explore the feasibility of providing long range, mobile air defense systems in the Baltic region, including through leveraging cost-sharing mechanisms and multilateral deployment with NATO allies to reduce financial burdens on host countries. 4. Defense Assessment (a) In general Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall, in consultation with appropriate counterparts of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies, and other regional partners, conduct a comprehensive, multilateral assessment of the military requirements of such countries to deter and resist aggression by the Russian Federation that— (1) provides