“During my three days in Ukraine, I have directly experienced Russia’s unwillingness to pursue peace. Air raid alerts have accompanied this visit both day and night, and every day Russian drone and missile attacks have targeted shops, petrol stations, passenger trains and residential buildings, killing and injuring innocent Ukrainian people,” Tsahkna said. “Last night’s attack near the Ukraine-Poland border crossing once again reminds us that the threat posed by Russia is knocking directly on the borders of the European Union and NATO.”
“The situation in Ukraine is difficult, but as long as the necessary means are available, Ukrainians remain determined to resist the aggressor. Above all, Ukraine urgently needs economic support to strengthen its capacity to put pressure on Russia through deep strikes against targets on Russian territory,” Tsahkna said. “Ukraine is ready to increase the pressure through deep strikes if financial support for Ukraine increases.”
“Europe’s focus this autumn must be on putting Russia’s frozen assets to use. It is becoming increasingly difficult to explain to our societies why the cost of supporting Ukraine should be borne by our taxpayers rather than the aggressor,” Tsahkna said.
The foreign ministers also discussed preparations for the Ukraine Recovery Conference to be held in Estonia next January.
“Alongside military, economic and political support, we must continue rebuilding Ukraine to give Ukrainians the essential hope of a better future. This weekend, we opened two education-sector reconstruction projects in Zhytomyr Oblast completed with Estonian support, and we are preparing for the Ukraine Recovery Conference in January, where we want to see concrete contributions from Ukraine’s partners both to help Ukraine get through the harsh winter and to support the country’s long-term reconstruction,” Tsahkna said.
During his visit to Ukraine, Foreign Minister Tsahkna also spoke at the opening discussion of the annual Yalta European Strategy conference and chaired high-level meetings held in the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) format.
