undefined
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky emphasized this Sunday the urgent need to strengthen Ukraine’s energy resilience and air defense during his meeting with the Lithuanian head of state, Gitanas Nauseda, in the Lithuanian capital.
The meeting took place after a particularly devastating week in which Russia launched more than 1,700 attack drones, almost 1,400 guided aerial bombs and 69 missiles of different types against Ukrainian territory, according to Zelensky himself.
“During the meeting with President Gitanas Nauseda, we talked, first of all, about support for Ukraine’s energy system. Russia attacks our energy sector every day,” Zelensky wrote in X after the meeting, in which he informed the Lithuanian president about his country’s needs.
The Ukrainian president thanked Lithuania for its support and highlighted the Baltic country’s decision to help Ukrainian cities and communities with the transfer of almost a hundred generators, crucial equipment at a time when hundreds of buildings in kyiv remain unheated in sub-zero temperatures.
According to the mayor of kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, currently 1,676 apartment buildings in the Ukrainian capital lack heating after the attacks of January 24, affecting half a million people who have had to evacuate.Subzero temperatures and repeated airstrikes have slowed the efforts of repair crews working to restore heating and power.
“Each massive attack by Russia can be devastating. That is why we need missiles for air defense systems every day, and we continue to work with the United States and Europe to strengthen the protection of airspace,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
The bilateral agenda between Zelensky and Nauseda also addressed military cooperation, joint defense projects and the Lithuanian proposal to launch an arms export platform in Vilnius.Likewise, they discussed support for the allied PURL initiative for the acquisition of weapons and ammunition manufactured in the United States, which kyiv considers key to its defense, as well as cooperation within the European Union’s SAFE financial instrument for the joint purchase of military material.
Diplomacy also took center stage at the meeting.Zelensky shared with Nauseda the latest details of diplomatic efforts toward peace, including meetings held Friday and Saturday in Abu Dhabi with delegations from Ukraine, the United States and Russia.
“Ukraine, as always, is doing everything possible on its part to end the war,” said the Ukrainian president, who described the negotiations as “constructive” and confirmed that both sides agreed to meet again in Abu Dhabi next week.
Zelensky arrived in Vilnius this morning accompanied by his wife, Olena Zelenska, to participate in the commemorative events of the 163rd anniversary of the January 1863 Uprising against the Tsarist Russian Empire, together with Nauseda and Polish President Karol Nawrocki.
As part of the visit, a trilateral meeting will be held in the Lublin Triangle format, in which the three leaders will address the current security situation and the ongoing negotiations on the parameters to end the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
Nawrocki, whose office highlighted in X the parallel between the Russian invasion of Ukraine and past struggles for the freedom of peoples under the Russian empire, noted that “by looking to the past for what we have in common, it is easier today to face the problems that lie ahead, especially in an era of the resurgence of imperial Russia.”
Poland and Lithuania are among kyiv’s strongest supporters in the European Union, and both countries have recently supplied hundreds of degenerators to the war-torn country.
