Lithuania pledges 20 million euros for Ukraine's military aid
Photo: Dovilė Šakalienė, Head of the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense (lrytas.lt)
Lithuania continues to invest in Ukraine's defense industry and plans to purchase weapons for the Ukrainian Armed Forces for at least 20 million euros. The official position of Vilnius is to "buy from Ukraine for Ukraine," according to the Ministry of Defense of Lithuania.
The Lithuanian Ministry of Defense noted that the strategic agreement reached during the meeting in Kyiv between the Presidents of Lithuania and Ukraine, Gitanas Nausėda and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, regarding the development of Ukraine's defense industry in Lithuania is "moving forward."
Preliminary agreements have been reached between the two countries on "the production of strategic weapons systems in Lithuania in cooperation with Ukraine."
This was agreed upon during a meeting between Lithuania’s Minister of National Defense, Dovilė Šakalienė, senior advisor to the President of Ukraine on strategic issues, Oleksandr Kamyshyn, and Ukraine's Minister of Strategic Industries, Herman Smetanin.
The Lithuanian Ministry of Defense emphasized that Ukraine's defense industry has "incredible potential" to become a global player due to its high level of experience, particularly combat experience, the motivation and competence of engineers, and the forward-thinking of key decision-makers in the industry.
"Lithuania will continue to invest in Ukraine’s defense industry, buying from Ukraine for Ukraine. 20 million euros have already been allocated for this, and the amount will continue to grow. However, we are aiming for even closer cooperation — developing joint Lithuanian-Ukrainian weapon production both in Lithuania and in Ukraine," Šakalienė stated.
For security reasons, the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense did not disclose the specific types of weapons covered by the agreement.
The Ministry added that in the near future, joint meetings of representatives from both countries will be held in Lithuania to discuss the details of the agreement's implementation.
It is worth recalling that in mid-January, Lithuania’s Minister of Defense, Dovilė Šakalienė, announced that Ukraine would receive thousands of drones from Lithuania worth 5 million euros.
Additionally, in February, Lithuanian President Nausėda called for the provision of modern weaponry and long-range strike capabilities to Ukraine.
