President Gitanas Nausėda is heading to Kyiv on Wednesday, a day after Lithuania signed an agreement to purchase two NASAMS air defence system launchers for Ukraine.
“Tomorrow I am going to Ukraine with good news that I can finally deliver to my friend Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine,” Nausėda said in The Hague late on Tuesday.
“The Ukrainian president has repeatedly raised the issue of a possible transfer of NASAMS systems to Ukraine, and today an agreement was signed between Lithuania and the Norwegian company Kongsberg that we will buy and provide Ukraine with two upgraded NASAMS launchers, which will be delivered to Ukraine shortly,” he said.
“This is a very good sign that even in such circumstances, when the granaries are empty, we can still find possibilities to help our friends [...] not with words but with deeds,” he said in a video recording from The Hague released by his office.
Last year, Zelensky asked Lithuania to transfer NASAMS medium-range air defence systems to Ukraine.
In late 2022, the president-chaired State Defence Council decided to hand over artillery ammunition to Ukraine, but not the German howitzers or NASAMS requested by Kyiv, citing Lithuania’s own defence needs as the reason.
Commenting on the decision not to transfer NASAMS to Ukraine, Kęstutis Budrys, Nausėda’s chief national security adviser, then said it was not yet clear from the talks with the allies how these “critical” capabilities would be restored.
Launchers valued at 10 million euros
The NASAMS launchers to be procured for Ukraine are valued at 9.8 million euros, Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas specified on Wednesday.
“The two NASAMS medium-range air defense system launchers will be fully ready for integration by the Ukrainian army into the existing fire control units, thus complementing and expanding the operational capability of the NASAMS systems currently in use in Ukraine, which were donated by Norway and the US,” the minister said in a Facebook post.
Under the plan, the NASAMS launchers will be handed over to the Ukrainian army within three months, the Defence Ministry said later, adding that the Norwegian Ministry of Defence will make an additional contribution by donating support equipment for the NASAMS missile launchers.
NASAMS medium-range air defence systems are also used by the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
Ten M113 armoured personnel carriers will also be transferred to Ukraine, Anušauskas said.
“The total number of these armoured personnel carriers handed over by Lithuania will reach 72,” he said.
Among other things, Lithuania has ordered 12.5 million rounds of ammunition to be produced for Ukraine for 2023, of which 2.5 million will be handed over to Ukraine in the near future, Anušauskas said.
“Thousands of pieces of anti-tank ammunition for grenade launchers will also be delivered soon,” he wrote.
In his words, Lithuania’s total military assistance to Ukraine “already exceeds the 500-million-euro mark”.
Lithuania’s Defence Ministry has also pledged to provide long-term support to Ukraine as it drawn up a military assistance plan worth at least 200 million euros for 2024-2026.
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