Defmin in Ukraine: Estonia putting together new assistance package

  • 2022-09-14
  • BNS/TBT Staff

TALLINN - During meetings in Kyiv on Tuesday, Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur confirmed Estonia's continued strong support for Ukraine to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and expressed appreciation for the resistance Ukraine has been putting up for more than 200 days now. 

"The armed forces and the people of Ukraine have demonstrated compelling courage. It is enthralling to see the success of the counterattack on Ukraine's eastern front -- this is a sure sign that our collective help has had a positive impact and must continue. No change can be seen in Russia's intention to destroy the free and independent Ukraine, so there is no reason for us to relent in our efforts," Pevkur said during a meeting with the president of Ukraine.

He added that Estonia continues to look for ways to support Ukraine with weapons and equipment.

"I listened with interest also to the proposals of the minister of defense of Ukraine regarding the continued need for assistance, and based on this, we are putting together a new aid package to support Ukraine. In addition, we are currently investing in the provision of training," spokespeople for the Estonian Ministry of Defense quoted Pevkur as saying.

As part of the visit, Pevkur handed to Ukraine's Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov the symbolic keys to a military field hospital manufactured in Estonia with German funding. The NGO Slava Ukraini also contributed 120,000 euros to the completion of the Role 2 field hospital, which is the second such hospital provided to Ukraine. The first hospital, donated by Estonia in February, has already proven itself in combat.

During the meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, the ministers discussed both bilateral activities vis-a-vis the European Union as well as specific bilateral activities in relations with allies.

"In the European Union, we must continue to raise the cost of aggression as high as possible for Russia. Suspending the issuance of tourist visas to Russian citizens is important at the moment, but equally important is maintaining unity in the European Union -- we must actively persuade other member states both to tighten sanctions and to provide urgent assistance to Ukraine," the Estonian minister said.

Pevkur's last meeting in Kyiv was a video meeting of the Copenhagen conference for defense allies of Ukraine together with Reznikov and the minister of defense of Denmark, Morten Bodskov.

"It was gratifying to see the commitment of the wide range of participants to continued support for Ukraine, with plans for coordinating aid becoming increasingly specific and clear. Estonia's support with training fits very well into this picture," Pevkur said according to spokespeople.