Lithuania has decided to provide limited military aid to Ukraine following a meeting between Presidents Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine and Dalia Grybauskaite of Lithuania in Kiev. The move aims to bolster military cooperation between the two states, reports GHN based on RT.
"We have agreed on the supply of armaments for the Ukrainian armed forces," Poroshenko said, after talks with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite on Monday.
Poroshenko added that the aid constituted "real help," though he did not clarify if it was for lethal or non-lethal equipment.
Grybauskaite said the deal would entail providing Ukraine with the necessary knowhow for building modern armed forces. More Ukrainian representatives will be invited to study at the Military Academy of Lithuania, and there will be an increase in joint exercises with the goal of completing "the formation of the trilateral Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian Brigade," the Lithuanian president said.
The country's first female president added that Vilnius was prepared to give Kiev pointers on how to bolster energy security and how to create an open and transparent energy market in Ukraine.
On Friday, US Vice President Joe Biden visited Kiev on the first anniversary of then-President Viktor Yankovich's decision to reject an EU trade pact in favor of closer ties with Russia, setting off the Euromaidan protests that lead to his ouster two months later.
Despite leveling strong accusations against what he called Russia's "unacceptable" behavior in Ukraine, Biden made no announcement regarding new military aid to the country.
On Friday, Moscow warned that any potential policy shift on Washington's part from supplying Kiev with "non-lethal aid" to "defensive lethal weapons" would be a direct violation of all international agreements.
A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that reports of possible deliveries of American "defensive weapons" to Ukraine would be viewed by Russia as a "very serious signal."
Meanwhile, tensions between Russia and Lithuania have flared up in recent weeks after Grybauskaite accused Russia of becoming a "terrorist country."
