Sunday, Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė paid a visit to Kyiv to take part in the International Defence Industries Forum alongside with President of Ukraine HE Volodymyr Zelenskyy, she also met with Minister of Defence of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and attended the official commemoration of the 34th Independence Day of Ukraine.
In a closed meeting with President of Ukraine HE V.Zelenskyy at the International Defence Industries Forum Minister of National Defence and her Canadian, Latvian, Swedish, Danish and Romanian counterparts discussed assistance to Ukraine and investment in Ukraine’s defence industry. Ukraine presented defence industrial innovations and solutions for improving battlefield efficiency at the Forum.
According to D. Šakalienė, LIthuania continues being firmly committed to Ukraine’s defence. According to Minister, “over EUR 200 million is planned to be dedicated to Ukraine in assistance for ammunition projects, anti-drone systems, demining, rehabilitation, courses and support to Ukraine’s defence industry”. During the visit to Kyiv Minister also announced Lithuania’s decision to contribute EUR 30 million to the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL).
At the bilateral meeting with Minister of Defence Denys Shmyhal the two counterparts signed a Letter of Intent on Lithuanian-based production of Ukrainian armaments and discussed types of armaments planned for production, as well as further steps.
The Letter of Intent defines the planned co-manufacturing of defence industry products, technology transfer, project development and localization of the production in Lithuania. This paves the way for an enduring partnership which will strengthen the collective European security and facilitate resilient supply chains.
Air defence was another major focus of the visit. Minister met up with top command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and air defence experts for a discussion on the arising challenges, lessons learned and innovation in air defence.
We have discussed Ukraine’s latest solutions for responding to the shifting air threat picture and technological innovation. I aim to ensure the most effective cooperation possible on strengthening our air defence and responding to the shifting technology and methods the Russians use. We have agreed to hold expert-level consultations on a practical transfer of experience to strengthen our air defence,” Minister D. Šakalienė underscored.
According to D. Šakalienė, “it is critical to strengthen airspace surveillance to ensure early detection of russian drones navigated to Belarus so that they are able to violate the airspace of Lithuania. We have agreed to share intelligence between our Air Forces to that end.”
Photo credit: Minister of Defence of Ukraine
