Minister of National Defence Robertas Kaunas on a visit to Ukraine for commemoration of the 4th anniversary of the wide-scale war attended meetings of the Coalition of the Willing and The Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) on Tuesday. He also met bilaterally with President of Ukraine HE Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Minister of Defence of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov.
“We are transferring 30 pieces of RBS missiles to Ukraine to help the country protect critical infrastructure. It is the equipment Ukraine critically needs right now to strengthen air defence,” said Minister of National Defence R. Kaunas after the bilateral meeting with V.Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
At the NB8 meeting Minister underscored the necessity to support Ukraine against Russia’s attempts to use winter weather by means of damaging civilian energy infrastructure.
“During the coldest January and February months in 2026 Lithuania stood by Ukraine’s side with all it could. 90 power generators worth over EUR 2 million were delivered. Lithuania is currently arranging to transfer diesel power generators, transformers, electric engines and other energy equipment needed to restore energy supply and rebuild damaged infrastructure in light of the recent Russian attacks,” said Minister R. Kaunas.
According to minister, the key priority remains the same: to help Ukraine resist Russian efforts to weaponize winter. Despite the rhetoric of the so-called energy ceasefire, russia successfully continues systemic attacks against Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure: electricity networks, substations and nuclear energy related-sites to use winter weather and the factor of nuclear risk for pressure.
Lithuania will make a new contribution to Ukraine’s air defence through the PURL initiative through which U.S. equipment is supplied to Ukraine.
Minister also noted that the latest LNG freight will soon reached Ukraine from the United States via the Klaipėda LNG Terminal.
At the meeting of over 30 Ukraine’s supporters at the Coalition of the Willing, Minister underscored Lithuania’s steadfast commitment to continue rendering comprehensive assistance.
“We will continue actively seeking to step up support to Ukraine in NATO, EU and other international formats,” Minister R. Kaunas said at the meeting.
Minister emphasized that assistance to Ukraine and its EU membership aspiration will be among Lithuania’s strategic priorities in 2027 during the Presidency of the Council of the EU.
The bilateral meeting with Minister of Defence of Ukraine M. Fedorov focused on the industrial cooperation between the two countries. They agreed on further tightening the cooperation on developing joint production of Lithuanian and Ukrainian weaponry in Lithuania and in Ukraine.
Photos: courtesy of Office of the President of Ukraine
