According to Ukrainian Defense Minister, Rustem Umerov, Ukraine has received another vital military package from Lithuania, which includes winter equipment & tens of thousands of warm clothing sets.
In an X post, Umerov expressed gratitude to the Lithuanian Minister of National Defence, Arvydas Anušauskas and all Lithuanian people for their unwavering support.
“We stand united in our fight against Russian aggression,” he added.
Tt was reported in November that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had received two NASAMS launchers purchased by Lithuania.
Separately, Norway’s ministry of defence that the country’s government is proposing providing more NASAMS – short to medium range ground-based air defence systems – to Ukraine.
In the summer of 2023, Norway announced it would provide Ukraine with a NASAMS support package consisting of additional fire control centres, launchers and spare parts.
The Norwegian government proposed to the parliament to order a further ten launch units and four fire control centres of the air defence system NASAMS from Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace (KDA).
The government added, “This is done in addition to repurchasing the equipment that has already been donated to Ukraine.”
The investment will amount to NOK 3.45 billion, or over €300 million.
Norway’s Defence Minister, Bjørn Arild Gram noted that the Norwegian NASAMs system saves Ukrainian lives and prevents the destruction of buildings and infrastructure.
He added that the Russian missile and drone attacks are extensive and brutal, so “air defence is absolutely decisive for Ukraine.”
At the same time, the minister expressed concern that Norway should acquire air defence equipment for its own defence as soon as possible.
The amount of equipment that may be delivered to Ukraine from the new order was not specified.
EU Asserts Support To Ukraine
The EU said on Friday it would “stand by Ukraine every day” and would be supplying it with 500,000 rounds of ammunition by March and would meet its target of 1m rounds of ammunition by December.
Also, A spokesperson for the European Commission has said that the interview Tucker Carlson had with Vladimir Putin was just a repeat of his usual “lies” and “war propaganda” aimed at “justifying atrocities” and “normalising aggression.”
Putin claimed during the interview that the West could stop the war by stopping the supply of arms to Ukraine.
“We saw nothing new in Putin’s interview,” the spokesperson said.
“We regret that Putin is actually provided a platform to manipulate and spread propaganda. Putin reinforced his well-known lies about Ukraine. These are dangerous lies,” the spokesperson added.
Additionally, Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian Prime Minister and current member of the European parliament, said that Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin “is the best thing that ever happened” to the Russian leader.
“America tomorrow will suffer from having him spreading lies unchallenged and unfiltered. This is how democracies die,” he said.
Moreover, Rishi Sunak, the British Prime Minister, called a claim by Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, that the war in Ukraine was a result of NATO expansion “clearly ridiculous.”
“Russia conducted an illegal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. I’m proud that the UK has stood strongly with Ukraine from the beginning,” he said.
He noted, “we can’t let this type of behaviour go unchecked. It impacts all of our security.”
“We’ve already seen the impact it had on everyone’s energy bills. And that’s why we’re working closely, not just with the US but with allies around the world, to give Ukraine the support it needs for as long as it takes to repel the Russian invasion.”
Rishi Sunak
READ ALSO: CAL Bank Leads GSE’s Penultimate Trading Session while DASPHARMA Faces Challenges