After the meeting of the State Defense Council of Lithuania on Monday, the country’s Minister of Defense Arvydas Anusauskas assured that Lithuania will continue to support Ukraine with military equipment, but further shipments must be agreed with its NATO allies.
As he explained, Lithuania needs to ensure the safety of NATO military personnel stationed in the country to prevent any aggressive actions by the russian federation, and fulfill its commitments before the Alliance, as reported by the national broadcaster LRT.
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"Our army is a NATO army, its capacity is also important for our allies stationed here. That's why, every consideration, if it concerns the reduction of capabilities, or handing over, we have to discuss with the allies, how we will compensate those. There are many issues that are not resolved very quickly," Arvydas Anusauskas said.
By these "issues", he probably meant the long-term agreement on delivery of JLTV vehicles from the United States which are meant to replenish the Lithuanian Army in exchange for those M113 handed over to Ukraine in a manner similar to the German "Ringtausch" program.
Lithuania expects to receive another 50 American tactical vehicles this November, with more coming within the next few years, up to 200 units in total by year 2024.
The minister said no further military aid was discussed during the Council meeting, but despite no equipment expected until the consultations with allies, he emphasized that Lithuania still continues to support Ukraine:
"I will remind you that just three days ago, our APCs that we sent earlier reached Ukraine, and now 50 M113 armored personnel carriers in total have been handed over to Ukraine," Anusauskas stated. The vehicles were pledged two weeks ago.
Around the same time, Anusauskas also revealed that Lithuania will repair three German PzH 2000 howitzers for Ukraine, that got damaged during the combat. Those are currently being refitted in Lithuania. The training program for Ukrainian soldiers continues as well.
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