Lithuania to organize production of Ukrainian weapons on its territory – Defense Ministry
The production of Ukrainian weapons will be organized in Lithuania; a corresponding agreement was reached at a meeting of the heads of the defense ministries of the two countries, the press service of the Lithuanian Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday.
"During a meeting between Lithuanian Minister of National Defense Dovilė Šakalienė and Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal, a Protocol of Intent on the production of Ukrainian weapons in Lithuania was signed in a bilateral format, and the types of weapons planned to be produced and further steps were discussed," the department's website says.
It is noted that the document "provides for joint production of defense industry products, technology transfer, project development and localization of production in Lithuania."
"This will open the way to long-term partnership, strengthening collective European security and creating sustainable supply chains," the Lithuanian Defense Ministry noted.
According to Šakalienė, Lithuania remains firmly committed to further support for Ukraine. According to the minister, "in the coming years, it is planned to allocate more than EUR 200 million to support Ukraine for armament projects, anti-drone systems, demining, rehabilitation, training and support for the Ukrainian defense industry." The Lithuanian Defense Minister also announced in Kyiv that Lithuania intends to contribute up to EUR 30 million to the PURL (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List) initiative.
The Minister also met with the leadership of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and air defense experts, with whom she discussed emerging challenges, experience gained and innovations in the field of air defense.
"We discussed Ukraine's latest decisions in response to the changing air threat environment and technological innovations. I want to ensure the most effective cooperation possible in strengthening our air defense and responding to the changing technologies and methods used by Russia. We agreed to hold regular expert consultations on the application of practical experience to strengthen our air defense," Šakalienė noted.
According to her, "it is extremely important to strengthen airspace surveillance in order to detect Russian drones heading to Belarus as early as possible and which could subsequently violate Lithuanian airspace. For this purpose, an agreement was reached on the exchange of information between representatives of our air forces."
