Ukraine signs drone deal with Lithuania, proposes air defense pact with Latvia at Bucharest Nine Summit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda signed an agreement on defense cooperation and joint drone production in Bucharest on 13 May 2026. Zelenskyy also proposed a parallel drone deal focused on air defense to Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs the same day. The agreements were made at the 11th Bucharest Nine Summit, a gathering of NATO's eastern flank, Nordic states, and the US.
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. The signing took place at the 11th Bucharest Nine Summit, a format that brings together NATO's eastern flank, invited Nordic states, and the US.
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, 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.
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. Latvia jointly runs the international Drone Coalition alongside the UK—a network of more than 20 nations 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.
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. At the summit, Zelenskyy pitched all participants on signing their own bilateral Drone Deals, said Ukraine expects Europe's 90-billion-euro support package to start flowing by June with the first tranche directed to drone production, and urged countries with relevant capabilities to join the forming anti-ballistic coalition.