President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda, during which the leaders signed an Agreement on Cooperation in the Area of Defense Expertise and Defense Industry under the Drone Deal format.
The agreement is intended to strengthen both countries' defense capabilities, and, importantly, it is based on the principle of reciprocity: Ukraine supports partners who provide real and tangible support for our defense. This document opens up new opportunities for the co-production of defense equipment, technology transfer, and joint manufacturing between Ukrainian and Lithuanian companies.
Ukraine and Lithuania will develop defense-industrial and technological cooperation, including in the areas of air and missile defense and unmanned systems. This also includes the prospect of localizing in Lithuania the production of long-range strike, naval, interceptor, and bomber drones in the shortest possible timeframe.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine is ready to share its experience in building an air defense system, countering UAVs, and using drones. A Ukrainian military expert team will work in Lithuania to help develop the necessary security capabilities, primarily to protect against modern threats and to strengthen the security of both states and the entire region.
The leaders also discussed potential threats from Belarus.
Special attention was given to Ukraine’s path towards full membership in the European Union, in particular the need to open all negotiation clusters as quickly as possible.
The President noted that our country is also counting on meaningful results during Lithuania’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2027.
