2024-04-12 12:56:32
The plane of the President of Ukraine landed at Vilnius International Airport on Thursday before 11:00 AM. V. Zelenski’s cortege arrived at the Presidential Palace after a short stop at the “Kempinski” hotel.
An unannounced bilateral meeting between the heads of state began at noon. Having met with G. Nausėda, V. Zelenskis thanked for the invitation to participate in the Three Seas Initiative and for the opportunity to once again talk about the most important topics – not only for Ukraine, but also for the security of the whole of Europe.
“First of all, I want to thank you for supporting us since the beginning of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, not only politically, but also militarily. This is very important to us, we will never forget it. I also want to thank the people of Lithuania for welcoming our refugees very warmly,” said V. Zelenskis.
The President of Ukraine indicated that during the meeting with G. Nausėda, he will talk about military support.
“We will talk about many different initiatives. You know, many initiatives are started very loudly, but it is important to finish them as well”, observed V. Zelenskis.
He indicated that during the meetings he would emphasize the importance of air defense for Ukraine.
“As you know, tonight, this early morning, we were attacked again. Kharkiv again, Odesa again, Zaporizhia, Kyiv region, many other regions and people of ours. That is why air defense is our number one priority,” emphasized V. Zelenskis.
At the same time, he thanked Lithuania for its support to Ukraine on its way to the European Union and NATO.
“There is no other alternative for us but this road. We will talk about this, as well as about the NATO summit in Washington and the extremely important decision for us, which we hope to receive in June,” said the Ukrainian president.
For his part, the President of Lithuania G. Nausėda pointed out that our country is ready to continue supporting the Ukrainians with all its capabilities – both politically, economically and militarily.
“We also constantly try to mobilize, we encourage the allies not only to make the necessary decisions, but also to implement them, especially when it comes to the supply of military equipment and ammunition. It is not very easy”, claimed G. Nausėda.
The President reiterated that Lithuania will continue to support Ukraine’s integration into the European Union and NATO. He said that he would like to discuss with V. Zelenski himself what kind of signals Vilnius and Kyiv could send to the international community on this issue even before the Alliance summit in Washington in the summer.
“I hope that everything is possible and that you can implement all the necessary reforms and recommendations of the European Commission”, hoped G. Nausėda.
V. Zelenskis will later participate in the Three Seas Initiative Summit held at the House of Lords.
As a result of this summit, the Lithuanian army began to carry out security tasks in the capital and its surroundings from Monday. About 400 soldiers from different units of the Lithuanian army were used for this.
Until Friday, the soldiers of the Air Defense Battalion will be moving on public roads, carrying out their tasks away from the main places where people gather. NASAMS medium-range air defense systems were deployed during the event.
President G. Nausėda will preside over the plenary session of the top-level leaders’ meeting starting in the afternoon, in which more than ten heads of foreign states are expected to attend. During the meeting, the leaders of the countries intend to adopt a joint declaration.
The Three Seas Initiative connects thirteen European Union (EU) member states located between the Baltic, Black and Adriatic Seas: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Greece. The strategic partners of the initiative are the USA, Germany and the European Commission.
Associated countries Ukraine and Moldova also participate in the initiative. It is planned that a new strategic partner – Japan – will join the initiative during the summit in Lithuania.
The Three Seas Initiative aims to promote faster development and cooperation of the Baltic, Black and Adriatic Sea region, increasing the connectivity of the participating countries in the fields of transport, energy and digitization, especially in the North and South axis. We also want to strengthen EU cohesion and transatlantic relations between the EU and the US.
The initiative is currently chaired by Lithuania. Among the priority goals of Vilnius is the effort to promote greater involvement of strategic partners, investments, especially the transatlantic connection between the United States and the Three Seas Initiative region, and to develop a broader coalition of like-minded countries.
Countries are also encouraged to pay more attention to increasing infrastructure resilience and critical protection, the importance of military mobility, and cyber security. In addition, Lithuania aims to bring together regional states and like-minded countries to strengthen and expand support for the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine – especially in the field of transport.
At the same time, the business forum will discuss the development of the region, support for Ukraine and its reconstruction, creation of digital infrastructure, strengthening of cyber security in the region.
The Three Seas Initiative is a platform for cooperation between countries. The first meeting of member leaders took place in 2016. in Croatia. The last time was in 2023. in autumn – the summit was held in Romania.
This is V. Zelenski’s second visit to Lithuania this year. He last visited here in January.
2024-04-12 12:56:32