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Pevkur in Brussels: Let's not make negotiations easy for Putin

Republic of Estonia - Ministry of Defence

13. February 2025 - 14:42

At the NATO Defence Ministers' meeting held today in Brussels, discussions focused on strengthening Allied defence capabilities and increasing defence spending to bolster NATO's Deterrence and Defence posture ahead of the NATO Summit in The Hague this June. Additionally, a separate session of the NATO-Ukraine Council was held.

"The root cause of Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine is clear—Putin's ambition to restore the Russian Empire. It was Putin's decision to attack Ukraine. Therefore, the current situation is not just about Ukraine but concerns all NATO Allies. Any negotiations will have clear consequences for Europe, which is why Europe must have a seat at the negotiation table. However, before we get to that point, we need to ensure Ukraine has a strong position on the battlefield, and we must not hand Russia any advantage before negotiations even begin. For us, Ukraine's strongest security guarantee remains membership in both the European Union and NATO, and Estonia will never recognise changing borders by force," said Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur.

"To enhance NATO's own defence capabilities, our stance remains unchanged—we have been advocating for increased defence spending for years and have also acted on it. Yesterday and today, we received a clear message from the U.S.—the time to act is now, Europe must take greater responsibility for its own security. Today, we have a clear framework in place - our defence plans and capability targets, which not only confirm the need to increase defence spending but also demonstrate the scale of this necessity," added Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur.

As part of the NATO-Ukraine Council, the defence ministers also met with Ukraine's Defence Minister Rustem Umerov and the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas. Additionally, the defence ministers signed several letters of intent to launch capability cooperation projects.