Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda signed an Agreement on Cooperation in Defense Expertise and Defense Industry under the Drone Deal format in Bucharest on 13 May 2026, the Ukrainian President's Office reported. Zelenskyy then met Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs the same day and proposed a parallel Drone Deal arrangement focused on Latvian air defense.
Drone Deal with Lithuania
The Lithuanian agreement opens joint production of four classes of Ukrainian drones on Lithuanian soil: long-range strike models, naval models, interceptors, and bombers. Technology transfer between Ukrainian and Lithuanian defense firms, as well as joint manufacturing, also fall under the deal, along with broader cooperation across air defense, missile defense, and unmanned aerial systems.
Ukrainian military experts will deploy to Lithuania to help build that country's defense capabilities, particularly against modern threats. Belarus also emerged as a potential threat during the two presidents' talks.
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The signing extends the Drone Deal framework Zelenskyy unveiled in late April, which allows Ukraine to export surplus defense production to countries that materially support its war effort. Ukraine signed a drone production deal with Norway in November 2025 and concluded a major defense tech deal with Germany in April 2026, both laying groundwork for fuller Drone Deal arrangements. The US is drafting its own version.
Lithuania had earlier agreed to fund Ukrainian long-range drone production, and the Bucharest signing puts that cooperation on a formal bilateral footing. Ukrainian defense expertise has already helped partners across the South Caucasus, the Middle East, and the Gulf region.
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Ukrainian air defenders in Latvia
The proposed Latvia deal would center on building multi-layered air defense capability against different threat types, the President's Office added in a separate readout. Ukrainian specialists are being deployed to Latvia to share airspace-protection expertise. The two leaders agreed that Russian aggression is the initial cause of regional security challenges.
Latvia jointly runs the international Drone Coalition alongside the UK—a more than 20-nation network that has pledged €2 billion to drone aid. The country sent 12,000 combat drones over the course of 2025 and earmarked €110 million for 2026, covering drones, electronic warfare gear, and the PURL mechanism—a Ukraine-support load outsized for a population under two million.
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