“Only Ukraine can make decisions concerning its future,” stress the prime ministers. It is also highlighted in the statement that weapons should first go silent and a ceasefire established before lasting peace can be reached. “Russia’s aggression and imperialist ambitions are the root causes of this war,” says the statement.
According to the Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal, there is a consensus in Europe to continue the pressure on Russia. “The sanctions are working, and we will not deviate from them before just and lasting peace is achieved,” he confirmed.
Michal also states that he has had close contacts with the Finnish President Alexander Stubb as well as others of his closest European colleagues, and Estonia has an overview of what was discussed at the summit in Alaska. “On Monday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, will be in Washington. A video meeting of the coalition of the willing is scheduled for tomorrow, where we can coordinate our messages,” he explained.
“No decisions can be made without Ukraine. Ukraine is very open to cooperation and prepared to work in every manner possible to achieve peace,” said the prime minister. “It has, however, been proven again that Putin is not interested in peace. Instead of establishing a ceasefire, he continued attacks on Ukraine.”
Michal also stressed that the strong support for Ukraine will continue in any case. “Ukraine must receive credible security guarantees, which must be implemented as soon as the warfare ends. Estonia is prepared to contribute within the framework of the coalition of the willing. We are happy about the message from President Trump that the US is also prepared to offer security guarantees.”
The current state of the Ukrainian peace negotiations after the Alaska summit was also discussed at the cabinet meeting of the Government of the Republic of Estonia today. In the opinion of the Government, Russia and Putin have not offered any concessions. The only way towards fair and lasting peace is through applying pressure on the aggressor and supporting the victim. Estonia will never acknowledge any changes in borders achieved by armed attacks. Our support to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine remains unwavering.
In the longer term, the best guarantee from the perspective of the security of Ukraine, as well as Europe, is inclusion of Ukraine in NATO and the European Union. Estonia continues to support both of those goals and stresses that only the applicant country and the NATO or the EU, respectively, can make decisions regarding these issues.
Full text of the Joint Statement of the NB8 Prime Ministers: Joint Statement of the Leaders of the Nordic Baltic Eight on Ukraine | Government of the Republic of Estonia
