The President of Lithuania arrived in Kyiv

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda arrived in Kyiv, informs office of the Lithuanian leader. His visit has not been announced before.

In Kyiv, Nauseda will meet with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. The Lithuanian president plans to discuss with Zelensky the agenda for the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, as well as the possibility of Ukraine joining the European Union (EU) and assistance from Lithuania and other EU countries to Kyiv.

In addition, Nausėda will take part in the event dedicated to the 27th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of Ukraine, the office said in a statement.

The President of Lithuania arrived in Kyiv from The Hague, where the day before, on June 27, a meeting was held between the heads of a number of NATO member countries and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. In particular, the leaders discussed further support for Ukraine.

On Twitter, Nausėda announced that Lithuania would transfer two launchers for the NASAMS anti-aircraft missile system to Ukraine. The weapons are designed to strengthen the air defense of Ukraine, he explained.

The NATO summit will be held in Vilnius on July 11-12. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba earlier informedthat Kyiv received an invitation to take part in the NATO-Ukraine Council, but not in the summit itself.

Prior to this, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ruled out Ukraine’s entry into NATO in a state of conflict. He added that “the doors of the alliance are open” and noted that the bloc’s countries plan to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine at the NATO summit.

Against the backdrop of joining Russia in the fall of 2022, the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky declaredthat Ukraine will apply for NATO membership in an expedited manner. After that, Stoltenberg said more than once that now the countries of the alliance are focused on helping Ukraine, and not on its membership in NATO.

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov noted that the exclusion of the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO is still one of the goals of Russia’s special operation.