According to Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, the U.S. decision to temporarily suspend military aid to Ukraine means that Europe must assist Ukraine more and faster than before to fill this gap.
"Europe must increase military aid to Ukraine so that Ukraine can continue its fight for a just and lasting peace," Tsahkna said. "The Estonian government has already decided to increase military aid to Ukraine by 25% this year and urgently deliver, among other things, 10,000 artillery shells to Ukraine. Our decision proves that new and swift decisions can be made to help Ukraine, and we urge all supporters of Ukraine to urgently increase military aid."
According to the Foreign Minister, one way to secure additional funds for helping Ukraine is by utilizing frozen Russian assets. Since most of Russia's frozen state assets are located in Europe, Europe must play a decisive role in taking action and directing those assets to assist Ukraine.
"Claims that there are no legal possibilities to use frozen Russian assets are baseless. Last week, I shared an Estonian discussion paper with European partners that provides a clear solution for utilizing those assets. A political decision to use frozen assets must be made before the next deadline for extending sanctions against Russia in June," the minister said.
"The aggressor, who is the sole perpetrator of the war, must feel pressure, and the victim of aggression must be strongly supported, because only in this way can we force Russia to abandon its goals and achieve lasting peace in Ukraine," Tsahkna concluded.
