Estonia to provide €1.2 billion in aid to Ukraine by 2027
Photo: Twitter/Karis
Estonian President Alar Karis announced that Estonia will provide Ukraine with assistance worth €1.2 billion by 2027. The country will allocate 0.25% of its defense budget to support Ukraine every year.
This statement was made during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Rubryka reports.
Karis stressed that Ukraine has already received assistance of around €85 billion from the EU. However, he stressed the need to continue this support.
"Ukraine needs more and better weapons. We must strengthen military production within the EU so that Ukraine gets what it needs. And not tomorrow but today," said Karis.
He added, "Our actions should prevent any aggressive war in Europe in the future. Estonia will support Ukraine as long as the war continues."
"We encourage everyone to provide Ukraine with as much assistance as they can until Russia stops its war," he said.
Karis pointed out that Estonia has joined the G7 initiative, has specific plans for helping Ukraine rebuild, and supports the use of frozen Russian assets for the war-torn country's recovery.
Zelensky noted that Estonia has already provided Ukraine with 17 packages of defense support.
"You showed leadership by offering cooperation to the whole of Europe in securing our artillery and ammunition coalition. We appreciate that you have chosen a very thorough, long-term approach to supporting Ukraine," said Zelensky.
He mentioned discussing cooperation at the European institutional level and possibilities in Europe with his Estonian counterpart.
The day before, Zelensky visited Vilnius, where he met with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda. During a joint press conference, President Nauseda announced that his country approved a long-term military aid package to Ukraine worth €200 million.
On Wednesday, January 10, Presidents of Ukraine and Lithuania, Volodymyr Zelensky and Gitanas Nauseda, signed a joint statement in Vilnius. Several bilateral documents were also signed in the presence of the heads of state.
Zelensky announced that after Lithuania, he would visit Latvia and Estonia, where he would meet with high-ranking officials.
Today, January 11, the President of Ukraine has already arrived in Estonia. The Ukrainian leader held negotiations with his Estonian counterpart Alar Karis in Tallinn.
He also plans to meet with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and address the Estonian parliament.
Estonian Assistance
In December last year, the Estonian government supported the proposal of the country's defense minister, Hanno Pevkur, to allocate a new military aid package worth €80 million to Ukraine.
It includes Javelin anti-tank complexes, machine guns, ammunition for small arms, ground and water transport, and diving equipment.
The Estonian budget for 2024 allocates €30 million to support Ukraine. This was announced by the head of the inter-parliamentary cooperation group with the Republic of Estonia, Arsenii Pushkarenko.
According to him, €14 million of this amount is intended for infrastructure restoration, prosthetics for Ukrainian defenders, and training of local government representatives within European integration.
Moreover, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna also supported Estonia's initiative to use frozen Russian assets.
When the bill was drafted, Estonia had frozen assets totaling about €38 million based on international sanctions.
