On October 28, the Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania, Juozas Olekas, paid his first visit to Ukraine in his new capacity.

Olekas, a Lithuanian surgeon and politician, was born on October 30, 1955, in exile in Siberia. He became actively involved in Lithuania's independence movement in the late 1980s. Over the course of his career, he has served twice as Minister of Health (1990-1992 and 2003-2004) and twice as Minister of National Defense (2006-2008 and 2012-2016), and represented Lithuania in the European Parliament from 2019 to 2024. In September 2025, he took up the post of Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania.

Ukrinform spoke with him about the results and symbolic meaning of his visit to Kyiv, the prospects for joint drone production and learning from Ukraine's experience in protecting its skies from Russian aggression, as well as Lithuania's energy support for Ukraine during the winter.

DESPITE VARIOUS LEADERS' EFFORTS TO RESUME PEACE TALKS, THERE ARE NO SIGNS OF RUSSIA'S WILLINGNESS TO END THE WAR

- Lithuania has been one of Ukraine’s most loyal allies since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. What does your visit to Kyiv symbolize at this stage of the war?

- Lithuania has quite a long tradition of our cooperation and collaboration with Ukraine, and Lithuania in different formats expresses support for Ukraine in this war against Russian aggression. This visit, which is my third to Ukraine this year, aims to reaffirm our support in my new position as Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament and to express full solidarity in different fields — military, economic, political, and emotional — reaffirming that we are working together with Ukraine in the process of EU accession.

- How would you assess the current level of political cooperation between Lithuania and Ukraine? What role do you see for the Lithuanian Seimas in keeping Ukraine’s issues high on the EU’s political agenda, especially as some countries show signs of “war fatigue”?

- Lithuania has its own experience with accession to the European Union, and we try to share our expertise — not only our successes but also our mistakes — because it’s better to learn from the mistakes of others than from your own. We continue this support from the Seimas’ side, strengthening parliamentary relations between the Verkhovna Rada and the Lithuanian Seimas.

Particularly, we have very good relations between the speakers of both parliaments. We have inter-parliamentary groups in the Rada and in our Parliament, the format of a bilateral Lithuanian-Ukrainian Assembly, and also the so-called Lublin Triangle — the Lithuanian, Polish, and Ukrainian assembly. We stimulate this format; for example, we adopted a resolution on the 8th of May this year, stating that we will never recognize the occupation and annexation of Ukrainian territories. This resolution is our expression of solidarity with Ukraine’s independence.

- How do you respond to voices within Europe calling for “negotiations” with Russia rather than continued support for Ukraine?

- Our experience — and I think the international experience of Lithuania — shows that the Russian regime, particularly Putin, understands only the language of power. All these diplomatic attempts without a ceasefire, without stopping the aggression, have never brought a final or long-lasting peace. Different leaders have tried to renew peace talks, including the latest ones, and all this shows that there are no signs from Russia to stop its war — just to prolong the aggression, kill civilians, destroy the energy and other systems. This is the main lesson for the international community: we must be united, we must show our strength, we must implement sanctions. Only in this way can we achieve lasting results.

OUR GOAL IS TO SHIFT FROM AIR POLICING TO AIR DEFENSE

- Lithuania has provided significant military aid to Ukraine, including weapons worth over 1 billion euros.  Now that Ukraine possess important know-how on ground robotic systems and drones how do you see the next phase of defense cooperation between our countries?

- It is very important to set some figures and propose to allocate 0.25 percent of GDP from different countries, because different countries represent different economies, and it’s easier to support in percentages for Ukraine. From my point of view, this is a good example, and I encourage others to do the same.

Also, during today’s visit, we learned how much we can learn from Ukraine. Although the war is happening here, the airspace in many parts of Europe has also been raided by drones and other fighters. For this reason, we discussed with the Prime Minister, the President, and the Speaker that there are many opportunities to create joint ventures and cooperation between different producers of drones and other systems to prevent airspace violations in various parts of Europe, not only in Ukraine. I see these possibilities very optimistically, and I know that today, exactly today, the Vice Minister of the Defense Ministry is visiting Lithuania with a team to discuss with our business companies how we can implement these ideas in practice.

- Since September 10, 2025, Russia has been regularly violating the airspace of NATO member states. On 23 October the Lithuanian Armed Forces reported that yet again two Russian fighter jets carried out an 18-second violation of the country’s airspace. How vigorous are the debates in government and in society about when it might become necessary to shoot down such aircraft?

- You know that we are part of NATO and we are discussing among ourselves that we should change the current situation in the Baltic states, where we have air policing: they operate quite actively but often arrive only after some time to control the airspace. Our goal is to shift from air policing to air defence and, in some cases, after decision-making, these violators can be intercepted or even shot down.

- Lithuania has suspended operations at Vilnius Airport for the fourth time this week due to meteorological balloons launched from Belarus. This is not the first provocation — are any additional measures being considered beyond closing the border, perhaps sanction mechanisms targeting Minsk?

- There are, I think, several different options. Today, there was a discussion in the President’s Office about various possibilities. One is to establish better control over these balloons and also to have the kinetic capability to shoot them down. Another option could be to close the border or possibly suspend train transit through Lithuania, because these balloons pose a danger. They threaten not only airports but also railway connections, and I believe this should be one of the possible measures to stop such interventions or violations.

THE LITHUANIAN LNG TERMINAL CAN BE USED TO SUPPLY LIQUEFIED GAS TO UKRAINE

- What results, in your opinion, can be expected from the 19th package of sanctions targeting Russia’s “shadow fleet,” as well as its banking and energy sectors?

- I think we need a little time, particularly to see how other countries will react. These are European sanctions, and we also have to consider the United States’ measures against Rosneft and Lukoil, and how they might influence India or China. I hope that these sanctions are a relevant instrument and that they can affect Russia’s ability to finance aggression against Ukraine.

- As winter approaches and Ukraine’s energy sector remains at risk due to the aggression, what aid is Lithuania planning to provide to ensure its stability?

- This raises the question of what Lithuania can do alone and how it can coordinate a group of partners to create broader support for Ukraine. On Lithuania’s side, there is very close cooperation between the Ukrainian and Lithuanian energy ministers, who aim to involve not only the state sector but also the private sector. Today, we visited the Ukrainka power station, which was destroyed by Russian aggression. Some support from various Lithuanian companies has already been allocated to this station, and efforts are being made to invite others to help rebuild or renovate it.

We also discussed the possibility of using the Lithuanian LNG terminal in Klaipeda to supply liquefied gas to Ukraine, as gas supply is a key issue at this time. This topic was discussed in the Prime Minister’s office with the Minister of Energy, exploring ways to improve or utilize this possibility. One of the options is the Lithuanian Klaipeda LNG terminal.

- This is your third visit to Ukraine this year. What personal impressions or stories from Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have left the deepest mark on you?

- There are many different stories. At the beginning, in 2015, I was very impressed by the work of military physicians supporting injured soldiers. As a doctor, father, and grandfather, it was deeply moving to see young men and women injured in this war. Then in 2023 and today, I saw the destroyed thermoelectric station and, in 2023 in Mykolaiv, a destroyed factory, and how people were trying to rebuild it with their own hands, putting in effort to create new life after these damages.

I think this shows the spirit of the nation and encourages everyone to support Ukraine, with high admiration, respect, and friendship. We must act together for the future — for the future of Europe, for the future of Ukraine — because Ukraine’s victory against Russian aggression is also a victory for Europe.

Anna Kostiuchenko, Kyiv

Photo credit: Hennadii Minchenko, Ukrinform

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