Borrowing from financial markets or national budgets are the best ways to provide Ukraine with what it needs to win the war against Russia. Currently, Estonia is seeking over 100 billion euros to achieve this goal.
This was stated by the Permanent Secretary of the Estonian Ministry of Defense, Kusti Salm, as reported by Euractiv.
"Allocating €120 billion a year to military aid to Ukraine “is a ballpark figure for what should be enough for Ukraine to win the war," he said.
Salm suggested that part of this amount could be financed through Eurobonds, where the European Commission could raise funds on financial markets and use EU countries as guarantors.
Over the past few months, Estonian politicians and officials have repeatedly stated that for Ukraine to win the war, Western allies need to invest 0.25% of their GDP in military aid to the country, based on a strategy developed by the Estonian Ministry of Defense.
"If the 50-plus countries in the US-led ‘Ramstein’ coalition supporting Ukraine militarily spent that percentage, it would amount to “more than €120 billion a year. With this money, by 2025, Ukraine will get to a point where they can impose attrition to Russia," Salm said.
However, he noted that even if this amount starts flowing into budgets now, its impact will take almost a year.
"It will take another [around nine months] to get the supplies to the level needed for Ukraine to credibly get to this attrition level," said the Estonian Ministry of Defense secretary.