The meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Mirzoyan focused on strengthening bilateral ties, particularly in the fields of economic relations and development cooperation, Armenia’s relations with the European Union, the Armenia–Azerbaijan peace process and developments in the South Caucasus. In April this year, Estonia opened an embassy in Yerevan, and the foreign ministers signed a memorandum of cooperation.
“Armenia has set a clear course towards building an open, democratic and Western-oriented future and is working increasingly closely with the European Union and its member states. As a result, cooperation between Estonia and Armenia has grown rapidly in recent years,” Foreign Minister Tsahkna said.
“Our embassy, which opened in Yerevan this year, gives us an opportunity to do much more together, from developing digital government to business cooperation, particularly at a time when Russia is severely restricting Armenia’s export opportunities,” Tsahkna said.
In his meetings with the Lithuanian and Swedish foreign ministers, Tsahkna discussed security in the Baltic Sea region, strengthening NATO’s defence capabilities and continued support for Ukraine, including the use of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine. They also discussed cooperation among the Nordic and Baltic countries (NB8), including in the context of the Ukraine Recovery Conference, and ways to increase pressure on Russia. The meeting with the Lithuanian foreign minister also covered Lithuania’s upcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
“Russia hopes that Europe will grow tired of supporting Ukraine and that our unity will crumble. We must not let that happen. Lithuania and Sweden are close allies of Estonia, and we share the understanding that what is at stake is not only Ukraine’s future, but the security of Europe as a whole. We still have ways to constrain Russia’s ability to wage war: we can tighten sanctions and visa restrictions on Russia, deepen its international isolation, particularly in the fields of culture and sport, and put Russia’s frozen sovereign assets to use to help Ukraine,” said Tsahkna.
Tsahkna stressed that a just and lasting peace cannot come at the expense of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. “Russia must not be allowed to gain at the negotiating table what it has failed to achieve on the battlefield. Ukraine must decide its own future, and any peace agreement must provide it with firm and effective security guarantees.”
The foreign ministers of Lithuania, Sweden and Armenia will also attend the opening ceremony marking the 108th anniversary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tallinn.
Photos from the meetings with foreign ministers of Armenia, Lithuania and Sweden.
