Lithuania to provide air defense systems to Ukraine

ATHENS

Lithuania will provide air defense systems to Ukraine, the country’s president said on Monday, the third anniversary of Russia's war on its neighbor, public broadcaster LRT reported.

“Lithuania, for its part, already has good news for Ukraine, and we will soon be delivering the RBS-70 short-range air defense systems,” President Gitanas Nauseda said during his visit to Kyiv, where he attended the Ukraine Support Summit.

“At a time when much is changing in the world when new currents and headwinds are emerging, like-minded countries need to come together even more.”

“Today, I saw this togetherness at the table, I saw countries that want to help Ukraine in terms of military assistance, and we also talked a lot about financial support,” Nauseda added.

Later in the day, Nauseda, together with the leaders of the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) countries, met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.​​​​​​​

“Our top priority today is to strengthen Ukraine and ensure that Ukraine and Europe are actively involved in negotiations for a just and lasting peace. The goal is to end Russian aggression, not merely to achieve a temporary ceasefire,” the Lithuanian leader said.

Marking the third anniversary of the Russian war, leaders from several European nations and top European Union had officials gathered in Kyiv to show support.

US President Donald Trump is engaging directly with Russia to end the over three-year-long war, sidelining Kyiv and other European governments, a move that caused widespread backlash across the European continent.

Zelenskyy continues to push for NATO membership, underscoring that Ukraine needs the alliance’s security guarantees for lasting peace.

The Trump administration, however, has signaled that Ukraine’s NATO aspirations and hopes of regaining pre-2014 borders are unlikely.