Lithuania has been extremely generous in its support of Ukraine. On September 14, Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas announced that so far, Lithuania has provided military support to Ukraine worth about 200 million euros. He said that “50 M113 armoured personnel carriers have recently been sent to Ukraine”, adding that “A decision has been made to order winter clothing requested by the Ukrainians from Lithuanian companies”. Lithuania has also agreed to repair Ukrainian military equipment, and has organized training for Ukrainian soldiers. “We will have trained at least 500 military specialists by the end of the year,” the minister said.
Earlier this year, Lithuanians raised almost 6 million euros for a Bayraktar TB2 combat drone in May, largely in small donations, following which its Turkish maker, Baykar, decided to donate it instead. Baykar and Lithuania agreed that 1.5 million euros would be spent to arm the drone with the rest of the crowdfunded money going toward humanitarian help for Ukraine. Baykar delivered the drone to Lithuania with more armaments.
Not a minor gesture for what is often called a “small” country. For comparison, since February, 2022, Canada has committed or delivered $626 million in military aid. The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is also assisting with the delivery of aid within Europe and has transported over 3.5 million pounds of military donations on behalf of our Allies and partners.
Operation UNIFIER, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) military training and capacity building mission in Ukraine, was launched in 2015 at the request of the Ukrainian government, and early this year, was expanded and extended until March 2025. Aspects of OP UNIFIER were temporarily paused following the February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with the commitment to resume training when and where conditions permitted. In August 2022 CAF personnel deployed to the United Kingdom (UK) to work with other allied nations as part of a British-led initiative to train new recruits for the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Since the start of Op UNIFIER in September of 2015, the CAF trained over 33,000 Ukrainian military and security personnel in battlefield tactics and advanced military skills. As the mission progressed, much of the direct training transitioned to members of the Security Forces of Ukraine, with Canadians acting as advisors and mentors. In April of 2022, the CAF deployed up to 150 members to Poland on a humanitarian mission, to assist with efforts to support and care for Ukrainians fleeing violence.
At the August 23rd , 2022, virtual Summit for Heads of State and Government of the International Crimea Platform, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced allocation of funding for two Ukraine projects through the Peace and Stabilization Operations Program (PSOPs), totalling $3.85 million. To respond to the urgent need to increase grain storage capacity in Ukraine due to Russia’s invasion, and help improve food security in the country, the Prime Minister announced at this year’s G7 Summit in Germany a $52 million contribution towards agricultural solutions. Canada’s contribution will be channelled through the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Grain Storage Support Strategy.
