Today 1 April, Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets met with the Foreign Minister of France Jean-Yves Le Drian who is in Tallinn for a conference on the UN Security Council. The ministers concentrated on Russia’s war against Ukraine and bilateral relations and cooperation, including in the UN Security Council.
At her meeting with Foreign Minister Le Drian, Foreign Minister Liimets said it was still crucial to continue our pressure on Russia to end the war while constantly offering support to Ukraine. “At the UN, more than 140 countries of the world have deemed Russia the aggressor and demanded it ends the war. This is why we must keep raising the cost of continued warfare for Russia to make it unbearably high for them. We can do this through international cooperation by imposing sanctions and politically isolating the country. Next we must also suspend Russia’s membership in the UN Human Rights Council because its actions go against the principles of the Council,” the foreign minister said.
Speaking about helping Ukraine, Liimets said we must also think more clearly about rebuilding the country devastated by war. “In addition to offering Ukraine political support, we must also consider how Russia will compensate the enormous destruction and civilian damages it has caused in the coming years. Speaking to my French colleague, I raised the option of using Russian assets already frozen for compensation and redirecting parts of the payments made to Russia for fossil fuels for the same purpose.”
Discussing European security, the foreign ministers focused on NATO and transatlantic relations. “Having taken part in defence missions with France over a long period of time, Estonia has demonstrated its broad grasp of shared security concerns and reaffirmed the strength of our relations as Allies. When it comes to the threats when ensuring the security of our region, it is obviously crucial to make strategic decisions on strengthening NATO’s Eastern Flank defences at the Madrid summit. I thanked my French colleague for France’s substantial contribution to securing our region so far.”
The foreign ministers also discussed the excellent bilateral relations of the two countries, focusing on defence and economic cooperation, joint activities at the UN Security Council and the security situation in the Sahel.
After the meeting, the ministers will attend the international conference organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, titled “Small states in the UN Security Council: Working for peace to overcome the scourge of war”. The conference focuses on the impact of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine on the UN Security Council in upholding international peace and security and the options of small nations at the UN Security Council in these circumstances. The conference will also look at new security challenges, such as cybersecurity and the climate and the impact of conflict on women and girls.
On the sidelines of the conference, Foreign Minister Liimets will have a joint meeting with the foreign ministers of Latvia, Lithuania and France and a bilateral meeting with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leader of the Democratic Movement of Belarus. The meeting of Baltic and French foreign ministers is followed by a joint press conference at 13.30, which will be streamed live on the Foreign Ministry’s Facebook and YouTube accounts. The programme and live stream link of the conference are available here.
Photos of the meeting: https://www.flickr.com/photos/estonian-foreign-ministry/albums/72177720297775766
Additional information:
Communication Department
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