Lithuania said Friday that it would supply Ukraine with around 3,000 combat drones, which have become key in its fight against Russia’s invasion, and also help set up three recovery centres for Ukrainian soldiers.
“In the near future, Lithuania will buy around 3,000 Lithuanian-made FPV drones for Ukraine, for two million euros,” or $2.16 million, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said at a press conference with her Ukraine counterpart Denys Shmygal.
Deliveries of the first-person view (FPV) drones could begin this year, Simonyte said.
Lithuania has supplied more than one billion euros’ worth of aid since Moscow launched its assault in February 2022, representing 1.54 percent of its annual GDP according to a Kiel Institute analysis — one of the highest percentages among Kyiv’s allies.
Lithuania will also contribute to the creation of recovery centres for soldiers in the Ukrainian cities of Lviv, Dnipro and Zhytomyr.
Simonyte also urged the European Union to begin talks with Kyiv on its ascension to the bloc “as soon as possible”, and insisted on a need for Ukraine to join the NATO military alliance.
“The total security of Ukraine and of NATO can only be assured by Ukraine’s full and complete adhesion to NATO,” she said.
Shmygal was wrapping up his most recent tour of the Baltic nations, after visiting Estonia and Latvia.
