Lithuanian defense official discusses support to Ukraine at US-initiated meeting in Warsaw

VILNIUS – Lithuanian Deputy Defense Minister Margiris Abukevicius took part in a US-initiated meeting in Warsaw on Thursday to discuss ways of providing assistance to Ukraine, the Defense Ministry has said.

"Lithuania is making every effort to render assistance to Ukraine, including in the area of cybersecurity," the vice-minister said at the meeting. "The recent events have been worrying, therefore, we need to prepare for and forecast potential future developments."

"One of the important aspects here is sharing activities and responsibilities among the countries," he said.

Abukevicius also said that Vilnius was assessing the possibility of using the Lithuania-coordinated Cyber Rapid Response Teams to aid Ukraine, according to the ministry.  

The international meeting with Anne Neuberger, the US deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, "addressed potential means of rendering assistance to Ukraine and to strengthen the countries' resilience in the light of growing cyber threats", it said in the press release.  

Neuberger underlined the need for a special focus on cybersecurity assistance to Ukraine and "underscored the US commitments to the countries in the region on strengthening cybersecurity and resilience to threats", according to the ministry.

Officials from Estonia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and Slovakia also took part in the meeting.