“Hanno Pevkur suggests that Russia will continue to press, so partners should help Ukraine as much as possible”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“In the course of the war, I think we will continue to see how Russia continues to press. But it is we who should help Ukraine as much as possible… Regarding the course of the war, I do not think that the situation will change radically. We must also understand that winter is approaching, and many countries have announced that they will send special equipment and equipment for the winter,” Pevkur said in an interview with a Radio Liberty correspondent.
According to the official, Ukraine’s partners have “a very clear understanding of what Ukraine needs.”
“This is very close to what was announced a long time ago. Ammunition and air defense are still very important. But we also pay attention to the development of the war: drones appear, as well as deep strikes. So Ukraine gets more opportunities for deep strikes as well. To a certain extent, we really heard from many countries what will be delivered more and what will be their obligations also for the long term – in particular, next year”, – emphasized the Minister of Defense of Estonia.
Estonia, the government official noted, spent more than 0.3 percent of its own GDP on aid to Ukraine this year, and next year “it will be at least 0.25 percent.” Estonia is also a participant of the PURL initiative, within which NATO allies buy weapons for Ukraine from the USA.
“Half a billion will be used to purchase air defense equipment and other assets from the United States for Ukraine. In one package it unites the northern Baltic countries… This is certainly good news, but are we satisfied with it? Can we do more? Yes, we can do more. And that’s why many also noted that we can and should do more,” Pevkur concluded at the 31st meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine, better known as the “Ramstein” format meeting.
“It [зменшення допомоги – ред.] mainly due to a decrease in US supplies. If we take the European side, it just provides more and more. We know that US aid is a bit tight at the moment, so we need to increase our European aid to fill that gap,” Pevkur noted.
The Minister of Defense of Estonia emphasized that if the European allies, whose defense industry is unable to meet Ukraine’s needs, do not have equipment, they can transfer funds.
“You can always provide money to Ukrainian companies either through the Danish initiative, or through various others, or directly to Ukrainian companies.
I think it is necessary”, – summed up the Minister of Defense of Estonia.
On October 15, Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal, at the beginning of another meeting in the Rammstein format, stated that the total defense needs of Ukraine for 2026 amount to 120 billion dollars. According to him, Ukraine will cover half, 60 billion dollars, from national resources. He called on partners to join in covering the other half.