Lithuania targets annual aid for Ukraine at 0.25% of GDP

VILNIUS. April 11 (Interfax/BNS) - Lithuania plans to assume the obligation to annually provide Ukraine with security and defense support equivalent to 0.25% of its GDP.

This commitment is stipulated in a draft agreement on security cooperation between Lithuania and Ukraine, provisions of which the Lithuanian government approved on Wednesday.

The agreement calls for the implementation of the G7 declaration adopted at the NATO summit in Vilnius, which Lithuania and the other Baltic countries joined last August.

The draft agreement sets out the conditions of Lithuanian support for strengthening Ukraine's defense capabilities and security for the next decade. The document has not yet been signed by the countries.

The agreement includes the provision of Lithuanian military, humanitarian and financial support for Ukraine with the goal of defending and restoring its territorial integrity, deepening security cooperation, strengthening the economic and energy stability and resilience of Ukraine and supporting Ukraine's rapid progress toward European Union and NATO membership.

The agreement also calls for support to Ukraine in the area of the justice system and fighting corruption.

Twenty-five countries have so far joined the G7 declaration and eight countries have already signed agreements with Ukraine that provide for its practical implementation.