Lithuania allocated 20 million euros for the purchase of weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Lithuania continues to invest in the Ukrainian defence industry and plans to purchase weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine for at least 20 million euros. Official Vilnius will act on the principle of "buying from Ukraine for Ukraine".

This is reported by the Ministry of Defence of Lithuania.

The Lithuanian defence department emphasized that the strategic agreement reached during the meeting in Kyiv between the heads of state of Lithuania and Ukraine, Gitanas Nausėda and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, regarding the development of the Ukrainian defence industry in Lithuania "continues".

Preliminary agreements have been reached between the countries on the "production of strategic weapons systems in Lithuania in cooperation with Ukraine".

This was agreed upon at the meeting of the Lithuanian Minister of National Defence Dovile Šakalienė, the Senior Adviser to the President of Ukraine on Strategic Issues Oleksandr Kamyshyn, and the Ukrainian Minister of Strategic Industries Herman Smetanin.

The Ministry of Defence of Lithuania noted that the Ukrainian defence industry has "incredible potential" to become a global player due to its high level of experience, particularly in combat, the motivation and competencies of its engineers, and the "future-oriented approach of key decision-makers in the field".

"Lithuania will continue to invest in the Ukrainian defence industry by purchasing from Ukraine for Ukraine. Twenty million euros have already been allocated for this, and the amount will continue to grow. However, we aim for even closer cooperation – the development of joint Lithuanian-Ukrainian weapons production both in Lithuania and Ukraine," said Šakalienė.

Also, the Lithuanian department, "for security reasons," did not disclose the specific types of weapons covered by the agreement.

The Ministry of Defence of Lithuania added that joint meetings of representatives from both countries will take place in Lithuania in the near future, where the details of the agreement’s implementation will be discussed.