Lithuania has announced its readiness to deploy troops to Ukraine.

Lithuania will deploy its military in Ukraine alongside other Western countries if Kyiv sends a corresponding request.

This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Baltic Republic, Kęstutis Budrys, as reported by LRT.

He clarified that Vilnius will first discuss this with allies and partners to determine the format.

“There will be such a question – I have no doubt that the Lithuanian flag will be present there,” emphasized Budrys.

He reminded that after the Paris summit, when French President Emmanuel Macron proposed to discuss the initiative of military presence in Ukraine in various forms, Lithuania did not rule out such a possibility.

According to Budrys, participation in this mission would also demonstrate that Lithuania is contributing to regional security, doing so through both diplomatic and other means.

On January 13, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he discussed with Macron the idea of deploying Western contingents in the country and training the Armed Forces of Ukraine soldiers.

Macron had previously suggested the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine if Russia breaks through the front. He also proposed creating a coalition of countries willing to send a “training mission” to Ukraine. Lithuania, along with Estonia, expressed its readiness to be part of such a structure, but the idea did not receive support from the U.S. and Germany.

Following Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election, European countries also began discussing the deployment of a contingent to Ukraine in the event of a cessation of hostilities to monitor compliance with the ceasefire. Sources from Reuters indicated that the mission could involve between 40,000 and 100,000 personnel.

Background. Meanwhile, it has become known that France conducted secret exercises to repel troops in case of an attack from Belarus. However, some participants in the exercises expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of FPV drones and France's lag in this area.