"We will purchase winter clothing from Lithuanian companies for a couple of million euros over the next few months and hand it over to Ukrainian troops, which means that up to 25,000 Ukrainian troops will be provided with winter clothing," Anusauskas said during a presentation on the country's security situation in the parliament on Tuesday.
The minister also informed lawmakers that Russia's partial mobilization, announced last week, did not lead to an increase in the threat level in Lithuania, but the country reacted by putting its rapid response force on a higher alert.
"What the mobilization means for the security of our region is that there are no indications at the moment that Russia's mobilization and its objectives are directed against the Baltic states, therefore, we do not view it as an increase in the level of threat to Lithuania, but Lithuania had to react, and we reacted by increasing the alert level for the Lithuanian army's rapid response force, although there are no actual indications of provocations," the minister said.
"Putin's anti-Western rhetoric with nuclear threats" before the mobilization decision is an attempt to dissuade Western countries from supporting Ukraine, Anusauskas underlined and assured that Lithuania's support will remain substantial.
"Lithuania's support in the form of weapons and other military equipment amounts to around 209 million euros so far. Lithuania's support to Ukraine continues to be substantial, and I would just like to stress that this is not a support race among countries, we are giving what we can give, Ukraine is asking for what it needs," the minister said.
Anusauskas also mentioned that Lithuania had provided 105 mm howitzers and M113 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine and informed that 500 Ukrainian soldiers had been trained in Lithuania, adding that Lithuanian instructors will contribute to the training mission in the United Kingdom as of October.