PECULIARITIES OF SECURITY COOPERATION OF UKRAINE AND LITHUANIA IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE RESPONSE TO THE RUSSIAN THREAT

Oleksandra Davymuka; Valerii Kravchenko

Oleksandra Davymuka https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2185-0210
Valerii Kravchenko https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5924-3371

Keywords: national security, Russian threat, Lithuanian Republic, Baltic States, Baltic-Black Sea region, hybrid influence.

Abstract

The peculiarities of cooperation between Ukraine and Lithuania in the field of ensuring national security in the context of counteracting the Russian threat are determined.

It is defined that the Baltic States and Lithuania, in particular, have the similar strategic perspective with Ukraine on Russian threat, leading to a major transformation of the Euro-Atlantic security system. The vulnerability of the Republic of Lithuania to hybrid and conventional means of influence of Moscow through the status of the post-Soviet country and NATO member state is outlined. It is determined that Russia’s hybrid influence on Lithuania includes a set of information, political, diplomatic, economic and financial instruments that, along with the possibility of military invasion of the Russian Federation into the Baltic States, contribute to the intensification of Lithuania’ bilateral and multilateral cooperation with NATO allies and Ukraine.

The main directions of cooperation between Ukraine and the Republic of Lithuania in the security area and the prospects of their development in the future are described, in particular, in the issue of exchange of experience on effective counteraction of hybrid threats with the development of a system for their early warning. It is determined that the strategic partnership of Kyiv with Lithuania is developing in several dimensions, including the continuation of diplomatic support of Ukraine by Lithuania in the international area, exchange of experience in the military-political sphere, development of a common proactive policy on identifying security challenges and threats, military-humanitarian assistance etc.

According to the results of the research, there have been proposed recommendations on deepening the old and initiating new forms of strategic cooperation between Ukraine and the Republic of Lithuania at the level of activity of think tanks, state agencies and international platforms in order to develop common mechanisms for identifying and preventing security threats and challenges.

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