The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has begun a tour of the Baltic states, including a visit to Tallinn, Estonia, on 11 January.
Zelensky began his tour in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, arriving on 10 January by the Ukrainian presidential plane.
“Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are our reliable friends and principled partners. Today I arrived in Vilnius before going to Tallinn and Riga,” Zelensky wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Security, EU and NATO integration, cooperation on electronic warfare and drones, and further coordination of European assistance are on the agenda. But first and foremost, our gratitude. For the uncompromising support of Ukraine since 2014 and especially now, during Russia’s full-scale aggression,” the Ukrainian president added.
For security reasons, the exact timing of Zelensky’s visit to Estonia is not being disclosed at this time.
The Ukrainian president will meet with his Estonian counterpart, Alar Karis, the speaker of parliament, Lauri Hussar, and the prime minister, Kaja Kallas. He will also address the Estonian parliament.
“I and I believe all Estonians are honoured to welcome the president of Ukraine to Tallinn,” Kallas said in a statement ahead of the upcoming meeting.
“Estonia believes in Ukraine’s victory. We must support Ukraine as long as it is needed and as much as is necessary for Ukraine’s victory. These are crucial times and we must remain focused. If we allow the aggressors to disregard international law and dictate the rules of the game, we will find ourselves in a much more dangerous world,” the Estonian prime minister added.
President Alar Karis said in a statement that “democratic nations have done much to assist the Ukrainians, but collectively we must do more to ensure that Ukraine wins and the aggressor loses.”
Estonia has supported Ukraine with €1.2 billion
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale aggression in February, Estonia has supported Ukraine politically, economically and militarily – and provided the necessary humanitarian aid. Estonia also supports Ukraine’s integration into the EU and NATO.
Estonia’s financial assistance to Ukraine totals €1.2 billion, including €316 million in civilian aid and €900 million in military aid.
Volodymyr Zelensky has been the sixth president of Ukraine since 2019. He was previously a comedian and actor. Born into a Ukrainian Jewish family, Zelensky grew up in the Dnipropetrovsk region of central Ukraine as a native Russian speaker.
Zelensky last visited Estonia in 2019.
See also our special blog on Russia’s war against Ukraine.
