Ukraine and Lithuania have signed a memorandum of joining the Viking container train to the so-called New Silk Road route, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said at a meeting at Ukrzaliznytsia on Tuesday.

"I'd like to emphasize the necessity of cooperation with our European partners. The fact that Lithuania has showed its interest and we've signed a preliminary memorandum of joining this New Silk Road with the Viking train means that as part of our cooperation with the European Union (EU), as part of the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement not only Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and China will join the route, but also EU members. The Viking from Klaipeda will also receive a chance to ship its goods directly to China bypassing Russia," the prime minister said.

As reported, in September 2015, Ukrzaliznytsia said that Viking trains will transport goods from China to Europe. A corresponding protocol was signed during a meeting of the heads of railways of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine on the issues of forming competitive tariff conditions for cargo transportation in the direction of Asia-Europe-Asia in Odesa on September 11, 2015.

The Viking combined cargo train had been operating since 2003. It runs through Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus and Ukraine, connecting sea container lines of the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. The Viking project was joined by Bulgaria in 2012.

The Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine jointly with Ukrzaliznytsia on January 15, 2016 launched a test trip of the container train on the New Silk Road. The train reached China on the 16th day of its trip – at night on January 30, 2016.