Ukraine and Lithuania, which has pledged 10 million euros for Ukraine's Palyanytsia drone missile, have signed a memorandum on the latter's financing of the production of Ukrainian long-range drones, with the first tranche expected in the near future, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Facebook on Saturday, UNN reports.
Details
"Lithuania will finance the production of Ukrainian long-range drones. The relevant Memorandum was signed today in Vilnius with my friend, Minister of Defense Laurinas Kasciunas," the Minister said.
According to him, "the Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of a mechanism to support the security and defense forces of Ukraine through contributions to the Ukrainian defense industry opens up new opportunities for Lithuanian investment in our defense industry and contributes to the expansion of the strategic partnership between our countries.
This is a long-term agreement under which the first tranche of EUR 10 million has already been agreed. Lithuania will use these funds to produce Ukrainian long-range weapons, including the Palianytsia project. The Lithuanian side is already working on finalizing bureaucratic procedures, and the first tranche to support Ukrainian DeepStrike will be transferred in the near future
The minister said that in addition to signing the memorandum, they discussed our key priorities for 2025: training and equipping Ukrainian brigades, providing ammunition and air defense equipment, and developing cooperation in the defense industry.
Addendum
The first successful combat use of a new Ukrainian weapon, the long-range Palyanytsia drone missile, took place on August 24. Ukraine's long-range Palyanytsia drone missile costs less than $1 million, Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov has said.
In September, it became known that Lithuania had allocated 10 million euros for the purchase of a Ukrainian Palianytsia drone missile.
In October , Ukraine proposed to Lithuania a mechanism for financing the production of the Palyanytsia drone missile, according to which Lithuania would invest €10 million according to the Danish model.