Lithuania will show solidarity with Ukraine
According to the Government, the main purpose of the visit was to express Lithuania’s support for Ukraine and its people in the face of possible military escalation, with Russia concentrating large military forces at Ukraine’s borders and in Belarus.
“You can count on the strong and unshakable support of Lithuania – now and always. The strategic partnership and true friendship between Ukraine and Lithuania was repeatedly proved not only in words but also in deeds, ”the Prime Minister said on the eve of the visit.
Laurynas Kasčiūnas, the Chairman of the National Security and Defense Committee of the Seimas, is going to Kiev together to say that Ukraine is only a tool for increasing Russia’s power and negotiations.
“It is known that the Kremlin wants to enslave or paralyze Ukraine, but in these situations Russia is trying to address other political interests for the security of the whole of Europe, first of all with NATO enlargement and maintaining its spheres of influence,” he said.
During the meetings in Kiev with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, the Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk, the security situation, Lithuania’s support to Ukraine, relations with the EU and NATO, and the importance of Ukraine’s ongoing reforms will be discussed.
On the first day of the visit, the Head of the Lithuanian Government will lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, at the memorials to the victims of the Holodomor, the Maidan and the war in Eastern Ukraine.
A meeting with Lithuanian soldiers participating in the Lithuanian military training mission in Ukraine is also planned.
The head of the Lithuanian government is scheduled to visit the Luhansk region on Friday.