Lithuania continues to invest in Ukraine's defense industry and plans to purchase weapons for the Ukrainian Armed Forces worth at least 20 million euros. The official position of Vilnius is to follow the principle of "purchasing from Ukraine for Ukraine."
This was reported by the Ministry of Defense of Lithuania.
The Lithuanian Ministry of Defense noted that a strategic agreement, reached during a meeting in Kyiv between the Presidents of Lithuania and Ukraine, Gitanas Nausėda and Volodymyr Zelensky, regarding the development of Ukraine’s defense industry in Lithuania, "is moving forward."
Preliminary agreements have been reached between the countries regarding 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 strategic advisor to the President of Ukraine, Oleksandr Kamyshin, and Ukraine’s Minister of Strategic Industry, 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 in combat, motivation, and competence of engineers, as well as the "forward-thinking mindset of key decision-makers in the sector."
"Lithuania will continue to invest in Ukraine's defense industry, purchasing from Ukraine for Ukraine. We have already allocated 20 million euros, and this amount will continue to grow. However, we strive for even closer cooperation—developing joint Lithuanian-Ukrainian weapons production both in Lithuania and Ukraine," said Šakalienė.
For security reasons, the Lithuanian ministry did not disclose the specific types of weapons covered by the agreement.
The Ministry of Defense also added that joint meetings between representatives of both countries will take place in Lithuania soon to discuss the details of the agreement's implementation.
