Lithuania would be prepared to send a number of troops to Ukraine similar to its past deployments to NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan, a presidential adviser said Sunday.
“Lithuania has decided [to send troops]. Specific numbers are being discussed – I will not disclose them – but we should recall our contribution in Afghanistan and move in a similar direction,” Dainius Žikevičius, an adviser to President Gitanas Nausėda, said in an interview with 15min.lt.
Lithuania typically contributed up to several hundred soldiers to peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan. Žikevičius said the forces sent to Ukraine would also help train Ukrainian troops.
His comments followed a videoconference of the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” in which Nausėda took part. The meeting focused on efforts to end the war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year following Russia’s invasion.
US President Donald Trump has said Washington is ready to provide security guarantees to Ukraine. His special envoy, Steve Witkoff, reiterated Sunday that Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed at their recent Alaska summit on what he described as “strong security guarantees” for Ukraine.
“Military planning is truly advancing. I will not reveal details yet. But especially after President Trump’s statement that America will contribute to security guarantees, this is a very big push forward, and now we need to understand what it will look like,” Žikevičius said.
“When talking about Ukraine and reliable security guarantees, we must consider how to ensure security in the air, on land, and at sea,” he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected in Washington on Monday, joined by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
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