Lithuania’s Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas announced that his country will not hand over medium-range air defence systems nor 155mm howitzers to Ukraine.
The State Defence Council decided to continue to support Ukraine with ammunition, instead of sending NASAMS air defence systems and the PzH 2000 howitzers.
“We have decided the further forms of support. We will provide the ammunition that Ukraine needs,” Anušauskas said on Monday.
The minister pointed out that Lithuania’s support to Ukraine exceeds 640 million euros, while military assistance amounts to over 232 million euros.
Laurynas Kasčiūnas, head of the parliamentary committee on defence and security, affirmed that Lithuania will be sending ammunition for the German-made self-propelled artillery, which is already operating in Ukraine.
“We need to know one simple thing – that is the production capacity, the state of the defence industry in the West,” Kasčiūnas mentioned. “Even if you have the money now, you will only be able to buy the product in a few years. We have to look at that.”
He also expressed hope Ukraine will not be disappointed with the decision.
“Our support to Ukraine is 10 times higher than the average support to Ukraine from other countries. [Ukraine] should not be disappointed in Lithuania because Lithuania is doing and will do its best,” he noted.
Follow the latest news on Google News
