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Pevkur at NATO Defence Ministers' Meeting: Nordic-Baltic Cooperation Raises 500 Million to Support Ukraine

Republic of Estonia - Ministry of Defence

15. October 2025 - 18:00

At today's NATO Defence Ministers' meeting in Brussels, key topics included the implementation of decisions made at the Hague Summit, strengthening air defence and continued support for Ukraine. In addition to the defence ministers' session, meetings of the NATO-Ukraine Council and the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) also took place.

"So far, four PURL packages (a NATO-U.S. initiative where U.S. military aid is purchased for Ukraine with allied funding) have been delivered to Ukraine since August. I am pleased that through Nordic-Baltic cooperation, we have now secured funding for the next package worth 500 million," said Pevkur. "It was also encouraging to hear that several other allies expressed their readiness to contribute to future PURL packages. Estonia will continue its military assistance to Ukraine, which in 2025 will amount to more than 0.3% of Estonia's GDP," he added.

Commenting on NATO's capability targets, Pevkur emphasised that for Estonia, it is crucial that allies meet the agreed target of allocating 5% of defence budgets to capability development and take swift action to reinforce air defence on NATO's eastern flank. "We must respond decisively to the increasing number of airspace violations and drone attacks. Italy is currently protecting our skies under the NATO Air Policing Mission and has extended the deployment of its SAMP/T air defence system in Estonia. Developing a multilayered air defence capability remains a top priority for Estonia," said Defence Minister Pevkur.

The Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting was co-chaired by the United Kingdom and Germany, focusing on Ukraine's urgent needs for air defence and ammunition, the role of Ukraine's defence industry, and the PURL mechanism.

Today also saw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for the Nordic-Baltic training initiative "Legio" at NATO Headquarters. Under this initiative, participating countries will support Ukraine with training, equipment, and expertise to help build and strengthen a Ukrainian brigade according to modern NATO standards.

Later this evening, European Union defence ministers will also convene in Brussels to discuss EU defence readiness and prepare for the European Council meeting on 23 October. Estonia considers it essential that the EU ensures adequate support and funding for strengthening member states' defence capabilities, including drone defence and air defence, and that frozen Russian assets be used to support Ukraine.