President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted the importance of Lithuania's support for Ukraine's European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations. He stated this at a joint press conference with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda following the talks in Kyiv.
"Today we coordinated actions to update the Association Agreement and ensure further integration of Ukraine into the European Union. To this end, a very important document was signed - the Declaration on Support for Ukraine's European Prospect. I quote its last sentence: "The Republic of Lithuania will support Ukraine when Ukraine decides to apply for membership in the European Union," the President of Ukraine said.
According to him, this is a qualitatively new approach to shaping the agenda of Ukraine's relations with EU countries.
"Ukraine in the European Union is not a fantastic, distant dream. This is a strategic, achievable goal, which we want to achieve as soon as possible, forming a broad coalition of European Union countries that, in the good sense of the word, will become lobbyists of Ukraine on this path," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
He also stressed the importance of maximizing Ukraine's potential as a NATO partner with enhanced opportunities.
"We have signed a Technical Agreement on Ukraine's accession to the NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence in Vilnius. This is another strengthening of our engagement with the Alliance. Of course, we hope that Lithuania will support our efforts to obtain a NATO Membership Action Plan," the President said.
In addition, according to the President of Ukraine, a bilateral Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Youth Policy and the Cooperation Program of the Ministries of Culture of the two countries for 2021-2025 were signed.
In this context, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed the cooperation for the protection of cultural heritage and common historical memory of Ukraine and Lithuania, as many prominent figures united our countries.
"Recently, we marked 560 years since the birth of a prominent Ukrainian, the glorious Prince of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Kostiantyn Ostrozky. He was buried in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, but in 1941, his tombstone was destroyed along with the cathedral. Our states have agreed to do everything necessary to complete the project and restore this monument. I really hope we will do it before the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's independence," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
For his part, Gitanas Nausėda noted that Lithuania supports Ukraine's progress on the path to the European Union and our country's cooperation with NATO.
"We welcome reforms in Ukraine," he added.
He also said that the Republic of Lithuania is seeking the introduction of a solidarity mechanism for the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine between the Eastern Partnership countries.
The President of Lithuania also added that he is looking forward to visiting historical sites in Kyiv, where the tomb of Kostiantyn Ostrozky will be restored.
