Estonian MoD: Support for Ukraine to continue before and after ceasefire

This was stated by the Minister of Defense of Estonia Hanno Pevkur in a commentary to Ukrinform on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

“Our assistance to Ukraine will last as long as necessary. We have already agreed on the next three years. So, this year plus two more, so it is fixed [in the planning]. And if we need to extend it, we are ready to continue, it is quite clear on our part,” Pevkur assured.

At the same time, he clarified that Estonia will continue to help not only with military means, but also with civilian means - this is not in question.

“Even when peace comes at some point, we will still need to continue to help Ukraine,” the Estonian politician emphasized.

Asked whether it is possible to imagine the participation of the Estonian military in an international mission to ensure compliance with the ceasefire, Pevkur noted that it is too early to talk about this. According to him, first we need to understand what exactly the peace agreement will be, to wait for the negotiations.

“Because if after the peace talks the Russians still leave (the grouping at the level of) 600 thousand troops, it will mean that Ukrainians themselves will be forced to keep all their forces there [on the ceasefire line]. This will mean that this is not really a peace agreement, because there will still be a million people [military] on the contact line,” the Estonian Defense Minister said.

Pevkur added that Europeans, including Estonians, are ready to sit at the negotiating table and discuss what security guarantees for Ukraine will be. But, he emphasized, from the point of view of Estonia, the best guarantee of security for Ukraine is NATO membership.

Regarding the position of the new US administration on the prospects of Ukraine's membership in the Alliance and the ways to cease fire, Pevkur believes it is necessary to “deal with it” and try to influence some of Washington's approaches.

“We cannot change the American approach. So we have to explain our position to them as widely as possible and try to change what is possible,” Pevkur said.

As reported by Ukrinform, Estonia provided Ukraine with military assistance in the amount equal to 0.25% of its GDP.