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On 2 June, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Kęstutis Budrys, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiha, who is visiting Vilnius with a delegation led by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is attending the Vilnius Summit.

Lithuanian and Ukrainian Ministers discussed the situation on the front line, Ukraine's military needs, and the need to provide Ukraine with strong security guarantees, including Ukraine's membership in the European Union by 2030 at the latest as an essential security guarantee provided by the EU.

"This weekend, the operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces against Russian military targets denied the Kremlin’s narrative of military dominance and showed that Ukraine could successfully defend itself if it had all the necessary means at its disposal. Therefore, we must provide all the necessary military support – air defence systems, bullets, ammunition, and other weapons – without interruption," Budrys said.

The Minister also emphasized that Lithuania strongly supported the international community's efforts to achieve a just and sustainable peace. According to Budrys, it is necessary to increase pressure on Russia to seek a comprehensive and unconditional ceasefire as a binding condition for meaningful peace talks.

According to the head of Lithuania's diplomacy, the Kremlin is not interested in a ceasefire and real peace talks. On the contrary, it imposes preconditions, limits the scope of the ceasefire, and, ignoring calls for its declaration, tries to engage Ukraine in a process that can hardly be described as negotiations. That is why, according to Budrys, Europe must tighten its sanctions by introducing the 18th sanctions package.

The Minister reiterated that a just and sustainable peace must be based on full and unconditional respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. According to Budrys, Lithuania will never recognize the occupied territories of Ukraine as Russian, either de jure or de facto. The Minister referred to the resolution adopted by the Seimas (Parliament) of the Republic of Lithuania on 8 May on the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

This is Sybiha’s first visit to Lithuania as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. The first bilateral meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Lithuania and Ukraine took place in April when Budrys paid a working visit to Kyiv.