Today, 14 October, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who is visiting Estonia. They discussed the implementation of decisions taken at the NATO summit in Ankara, continued support for Ukraine, regional security and Russia’s acts of sabotage against NATO Allies.
According to the Foreign Minister, NATO has taken highly practical measures in recent years that demonstrate its readiness to defend Allies decisively and in accordance with NATO plans.
“During today’s visit, the NATO Secretary General emphasised what Estonia has consistently said: there are no Russian forces or other signs of preparations for an imminent military confrontation with NATO at NATO’s borders. At the same time, Russia is testing NATO Allies through acts of sabotage and cyberattacks, but the Alliance remains vigilant and united,” Tsahkna said.
“The Secretary General confirmed that NATO is ready and able to respond to any threat and defend every inch of Allied territory. Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, which states that an attack against one Ally is an attack against all Allies, remains in force,” said Tsahkna. “NATO has demonstrated this repeatedly in recent years. It has responded to airspace violations and damage to critical infrastructure with concrete measures, confirming that the Alliance is ready to act.”
“Today, we also discussed with the NATO Secretary General how the Alliance can ensure that it remains capable of successfully countering threats in the future. Increasing defence investment by European Allies and Canada will enable NATO to meet its capability targets more quickly and strengthen its deterrence and defence posture,” the Foreign Minister said.
According to Tsahkna, the discussions also covered the expansion of defence industry production capacity, the application of lessons learned from Russia’s war against Ukraine, and further support for Ukraine.
“It is in the long-term security interests of all NATO Allies that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine ends with a just and lasting peace. For now, the priority is to equip Ukraine ahead of its fifth winter of war so that it can effectively protect its population and civilian infrastructure from Russia’s increasingly brutal aerial terror and continue fighting for its independence and sovereignty,” said Tsahkna. He added that NATO support, including through the PURL mechanism, remains crucial to providing military assistance to Ukraine. “Estonia has so far contributed €21 million to Ukraine through the PURL initiative and will soon provide an additional €10 million through this mechanism.“
“Estonia will continue to provide military assistance to Ukraine amounting to at least 0.25% of GDP each year, and our own defence investment already exceeds 5% of GDP. We are therefore taking both our own defence and our support for Ukraine extremely seriously,” Tsahkna said.
Additional information:
Communication Department
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