Estonian Defense Minister Pevkur to visit Kyiv next Monday: new aid to Ukraine to be announced
Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur plans to visit Kyiv on Monday to provide detailed information on new assistance to Ukraine.
He said this before a meeting of EU defense ministers in Warsaw, Censor.NET reports citing Ukrinform.
"I will be in Kyiv on Monday and will pass on all the information about what we will send to Ukraine. I will pass this information to my Ukrainian colleague Rustem Umerov," Pevkur said.
As noted, Estonia has just completed a program of assistance to Ukraine, which amounted to 0.25% of its GDP, and plans to continue support on an ongoing basis. According to Pevkur, the country has already decided to supply 10,000 units of 155-mm artillery ammunition and 750,000 food packages.
The minister emphasized that Europe should increase its military assistance to Ukraine and make a decision as soon as possible to supply 2 million artillery shells, as proposed by the European Commission.
"Ukraine should have a better position for negotiations and they should receive as much of our assistance as we can provide," said Pevcur.
Regarding defense policy, Estonia plans to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP starting next year and maintain this level for decades to come. Pevkur called on European countries to act more actively, not just talk about increasing combat readiness.
