Lithuania Supplies Ammunition to Ukraine by Andrius Sytas

Lithuania says it has supplied lethal weaponry to Ukraine for the first time since 2014.

Lithuania, a member of NATO and neighbor of Russia, has welcomed increasing deployments of American and allied soldiers since the Ukrainian conflict started in 2014, as a means of deterring any aggression on its own soil.

“We are sending a message to Ukraine that it is not alone,” Lithuanian Defence Minister Juozas Olekas told Reuters.

“Lithuania has consistently helped Ukraine in its fight for territorial integrity and the defence of its values, and we would like to keep helping as much as we can,” he said.

Western governments and Ukraine say Russia has armed and supported separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine in a conflict in which more than 9,000 people have died since 2014.

In 2015 Lithuania rejected Russian complains that its previous supply of lethal weaponry to Ukraine violated international arms trade commitments.