“The help provided to Ukraine must not come too late or be too fractured. Russia is making preparations for a new large-scale onslaught and our support must be sufficient for combating it. But that is not all – the assistance must help Ukraine to kick the Russian forces out of its territory,” said the Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas after the meeting.
She remarked that the assistance provided to Ukraine by Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania has reached historic proportions. “We can only imagine how many lives could have been saved if more countries did the same. We are all going through our warehouses and stocks, but this is no longer enough. Our defence industries must also produce more,” stressed Kallas.
According to Kallas, a wide consensus has been reached that the Russian war crimes must be followed by a punishment. The best solution is currently being sought to ensure this. “A political and diplomatic process has gained momentum and will sooner or later result in a trial. Everyone who is behind the crime of aggression must be held liable – no one is immune. For this purpose, Estonia supports formation of a special international court to investigate the crime of aggression,” said the prime minister.
According to her, the European Union must also quickly propose a specific solution for the use of the frozen Russian assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine. This issue is also being considered in Estonia, hoping that our conclusions will help find a Europe-wide solution. The Baltic prime ministers also stressed that parallel to discussing new sanctions against Russia, more attention must also be paid to preventing circumvention of the sanctions.
At the meeting, disappointment was expressed over the suggestions of the International Olympic Committee to allow the athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. “Russia has been destroying the country and land of Ukraine for a year. Russia has killed hundreds of Ukrainian athletes. Permitting Russian athletes to perform on the Olympic arena at the cost of the blood of Ukrainians – is this fair game? The more so considering that Russia uses sport as a tool of propaganda and many of their team members are actually members of the Russian army,” stressed Kallas.
Kaja Kallas, Krišjānis Kariņš, and Ingrida Šimonytė also discussed the priorities for the NATO summit in Vilnius. “Our aim is clear: the regional plans of the NATO must be approved, and the deterrence and defence stance of the NATO on the eastern wing must be strengthened. The Defence Investment Pledge of the NATO must also be reassessed in the changed security situation: 2% for defence expenses is no longer sufficient – this is the minimum,” stated Kallas.
In addition to the military security, energy security and security of supply are also important for the three Baltic states. The meeting involved discussing the cooperation in the European Union in developing the off-shore wind power and network infrastructure, as well as Rail Baltic, and de-synchronisation of the electricity systems from the Russian grid. The next meeting of the Baltic prime ministers which will primarily focus on infrastructure projects is scheduled to take place in Tallinn in May. The cooperation of the Baltic states is presided by Estonia this year.
Statement for press of Kaja Kallas
Photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAqMPo
