Lithuania launches agency for Ukraine’s rebuilding efforts

On Friday, September 19, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha held talks with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys. It was announced that Lithuania opens Central Project Management Agency’s (CPMA) office in Kyiv.

This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

Lithuania opens Central Project Management Agency’s (CPMA)

On September 19, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha welcomed his Lithuanian counterpart Kęstutis Budrys to Kyiv, where he paid his fifth bilateral visit to Ukraine.

Andrii Sybiha thanked Kęstutis Budrys for officially opening the office of the Central Project Management Agency of Lithuania in Kyiv during this visit. The agency will coordinate all reconstruction projects, including those within the Civil Protection Shelter Coalition, which Lithuania recently joined.

According to the press service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the foreign ministers held detailed talks on a wide range of bilateral issues, including security, defense, Ukraine's European integration, and reconstruction.

The ministers also coordinated future cooperation within multilateral formats such as the Nordic-Baltic Eight, the Lublin Triangle, the Bucharest Nine, the Odesa Triangle, and the Joint Expeditionary Force.

They also aligned their positions ahead of the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly.

Sybiha emphasized Lithuania's important role in strengthening Ukraine and developing reliable security guarantees. The Foreign Minister expressed gratitude to the Lithuanian side for financing the European plan to purchase Patriot systems and for its readiness to deploy joint arms production.

According to the minister, Lithuania is also a leader in restoring Ukraine's energy sector. The total amount of assistance provided by Lithuania in this area has exceeded 83 million euros.

Common security challenges and regional threats were a separate topic of the talks, particularly in light of Russian drones invading the airspace of Poland and Romania.

Andrii Sybiha emphasized Ukraine's readiness to share its experience and strengthen its partners. He also stressed the need to integrate our country's and our European partners' air defense systems.

The parties agreed to collaborate to increase pressure on Russia further, particularly by adopting the strongest possible 19th package of sanctions as soon as possible.

Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and Lithuania on EU and NATO membership

During the talks, the parties discussed Ukraine's path to the EU and NATO in detail.

The minister expressed special gratitude to Lithuania for its substantial contributions to rebuilding Ukraine's regions affected by Russian aggression.

"Lithuania was one of the first countries to start implementing reconstruction projects in the summer of 2022, adopting the approach of "rebuilding without waiting for the end of the war." Ten projects have already been completed, and six more are underway. One of these projects involves constructing shelters for schools in six regions bordering the combat zone," Ukrainian FM noted.

Andrii Sybiha also expressed his deep gratitude to the Lithuanian government, people, and society, as well as to the President of Lithuania, for their support of Ukraine. He also recalled his joint visit with Kęstutis Budrys to Kherson in June of this year. Budrys became the first foreign minister to visit the city since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

Read more:

Three Russian MiG-31 jets violate Estonian airspace near Tallinn

Umerov predicts Russia will hit 1,000 attacks daily