We highlight the close partnership between Ukraine and Estonia, the fundamental shared values, and the unwavering commitment to Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders as of 1991.
We vehemently denounce Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine started on 24 February of 2022, which is an expansion of the Russian Federation’s war of aggression against Ukraine that has been ongoing since 19 February of 2014. We reiterate our demand that the Russian Federation immediately, completely, and unconditionally withdraw all its military and auxiliary forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.
We reaffirm our support for the principles of international law, the inviolability of borders, and the right of every state to choose its own path and security arrangements as well as right of Ukraine to self-defence against Russia’s war of aggression under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations.
We condemn the illegal temporary occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol, and parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions of Ukraine. We reiterate the need to continue implementing the policy of non-recognizing the Russian Federation’s attempt to annex these Ukrainian territories.
We stress that holding the so-called “elections” for the President of the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine is a grave violation of international law, the UN Charter and Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. We call on the international community not to recognize the results of these sham “elections” in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
The fearless resistance of the Ukrainian people against the unprovoked, unjustified, and extremely brutal Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, is admirable. We call on international partners to continue standing with Ukraine until the victory. It is of vital importance that countries urgently provide necessary military assistance to Ukraine according to Ukraine’s needs, without restrictions and delays.
We emphasize the significant contribution of Estonia in providing military assistance to Ukraine, which has taken on a long-term strategic character, as Estonia will provide annual military assistance to Ukraine amounting to 0.25% of GDP for the next 4 years. Further, we reiterate our mutual commitment to nurturing and expanding the collaboration between the Ukrainian and Estonian defense industries, grounded on the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Ukraine's Ministry of Strategic Industries and the Estonian Defense and Aerospace Industry Association, signed on January 11, 2024 in Tallinn.
We highlight the importance of the accession of Estonia to the G7 Joint Declaration on Support of Ukraine. We are committed to swiftly concluding the negotiations on the bilateral security agreement.
At the same time, we firmly believe that only NATO membership will provide Ukraine with comprehensive security guarantees and a credible deterrent needed to avert future aggression by expansionist Russia. Ukraine’s NATO membership will also substantially strengthen Euro-Atlantic security and stability. At the NATO Vilnius Summit, the Allies agreed that Ukraine’s future is in NATO. Estonia will continue its steadfast support for Ukraine on its path to join the Alliance as soon as possible.
We commend the historic decision of the European Council in December 2023 to open accession negotiations with Ukraine. Ukraine has shown remarkable progress in implementing reforms. We emphasize the importance of moving swiftly with next steps, notably the adoption of the negotiating framework as well as holding the First Intergovernmental Conference by the end of June 2024.
Ukraine values Estonia’s readiness to share its experience of reforms and European integration. This encompasses the sharing of best practices for harmonizing national legislation with the EU acquis in the context of European integration, organizing training of Ukrainian officials and negotiating teams in EU affairs, promoting the capacity building of the civil service, exchanging experiences related to judicial reform and in strengthening the institutional independence and efficiency of the judiciary, sharing experiences in implementing anti-corruption reforms and bolstering the institutional capacity of anti-corruption bodies.
We underline that the Peace Formula of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the only realistic plan to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.Ukraine welcomes Estonia’s active participation in implementing Ukraine’s Peace Formula, including the co-leadership in the point 5 “Implementation of the UN Charter and restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the world order” and its involvement in the implementation of point 7 “Restoration of Justice” as well as in the point 4 “Release of prisoners and deported persons”. Estonia expresses readiness to participate in the Global Peace Summit to be held in Switzerland. We support the involvement of the widest possible range of countries and organisations, respecting the Goals and Principles of the UN Charter and international law in the implementation of the Peace Formula and in the Global Peace Summit.
We are convinced that Russia and its leadership must be held fully accountable for waging war of aggression against Ukraine, war crimes and crimes against humanity. We emphasize that the Special International Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine must have broad cross-regional support and legitimacy and be able to investigate and prosecute Russia’s highest political and military leadership for their crimes of aggression. We declare our readiness to continue cooperation within the International Core Group and other international and regional formats to achieve these goals.
We stress that the aggressor must pay for the massive damage caused to individuals and entities, as well as to the state of Ukraine, and underline the need for rapid progress on the use of frozen and immobilized Russian assets for Ukraine’s reconstruction and other assistance needs. We note the leading role of Estonia, which was the first to begin an active process of developing a legal mechanism that would allow to use Russian frozen assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
We welcome the need for establishment of an international compensation mechanism, as envisaged by the Statute of the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine adopted by the Resolution of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe CM/Res(2023)3, and welcome the importance of launching under the auspices of the Council of Europe’s Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine as a first tangible step in the direction of a future compensation mechanism.
We agreed to further increase pressure on Russia through sanctions, to seek their full and effective implementation, and to prevent their circumvention in close cooperation with partners and allies.
We call on the international community to ensure the political isolation of the aggressor state in international organizations. We reaffirm our intentions to step up cooperation in international fora, including through the International Crimea Platform and others, to increase the isolation of the aggressor Russia and its allies. We welcome the cases of Russia’s exclusion from the governing bodies of the ICJ, FAO, UNESCO, OPCW, IMO, HRC, ECOSOC, UNICEF, CSW, UNDP, and the Danube Commission.
We continue, together with our partners, intensive work to return all illegally abducted Ukrainian children to Ukraine. We believe that the projects and initiatives of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children play a vital role in accelerating the safe return to Ukraine of unlawfully deported and forcibly displaced children.
We praise the Estonia’s compassionate approach towards Ukrainian citizens seeking temporary protection in Estonia, underscoring the comprehensive support provided by the Government Estonia, its municipalities, NGOs, and the broader society. This support, crucial since the onset of Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, has played a vital role in aiding those forced to seek temporary protection, and we emphasize the importance of its continuation.
We note the importance of the Estonian Government’s efforts to meet the educational and cultural needs of temporarily displaced persons from Ukraine, especially children, exemplified by the successful operation of two schools that have created conducive environments for the education of children from displaced Ukrainian families. This commitment underscores the pivotal role of educational and cultural collaboration in our bilateral agenda, focusing on fostering interpersonal connections, encouraging innovative endeavors, and executing collaborative projects across education, science, culture, and sports.
We highlight the significant role of economic cooperation between Ukraine and Estonia, which serves as a cornerstone for generating a synergistic effect to overcome the negative economic consequences of Russian aggression. Cooperation in all fields, but particularly in in the defence, IT, construction, education technology, energy, and healthcare sectors should pave the way for further growth of prosperity of each country.
We note the importance of joint efforts to ensure global food security, increase transit potential for the export of Ukrainian agricultural products, fully utilize the European Union’s “Solidarity Lanes” initiative, and build capacity for transport corridors for Ukrainian agricultural products in Northern and Northeastern Europe towards Baltic ports.
We emphasize the significance of the involvement of Estonia in aiding the Ukrainian energy infrastructure amidst continuous bomb shelling from the Russian Federation.
We stress the flourishing bilateral cooperation in shipbuilding and anticipate the successful completion of the next project, which will enhance the effective operation of the maritime search and rescue service in Ukraine. Furthermore, we seek for wider cooperation between Estonian maritime cluster in order re-build and innovate the entire maritime sector in Ukraine.
We recognize the importance of digital development and the strengthening of cyber capabilities and commit the rapprochement of cooperation in these fields.
We emphasize Estonia’s leadership in establishing the IT coalition and launching the Tallinn Mechanism to strengthen both military and civil cybersecurity and defense, and the importance of the Government of Estonia allocating the appropriate funding. Ukraine and Estonia will intensify their bilateral cooperation on cyber and information security, aiming to deter and counter hybrid threats, cyberattacks, propaganda, information manipulation, and disinformation.
We highlight the importance of further bilateral cooperation in exchanging best practices in digitalization and organizing e-government, with the participation of the state structures of Ukraine and Estonia.
We note that cooperation in the medical sphere has become more vital for Ukraine during full-scale Russian aggression. In this regard, we underline the importance of the efforts of Estonia to share medical experience in multidisciplinary rehabilitation for the treatment of a patient with amputation for doctors, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, prosthetists from different regions of Ukraine.
We strongly support all efforts of the international community aimed at ensuring Ukraine’s immediate financial stability and its recovery and reconstruction for a sustainable, prosperous, and democratic future and note Estonia’s leadership in the implementation of concrete recovery projects in the Zhytomyr region, notably constructing a fully-equipped modular kindergarten for 160 children and reconstructing a vehicular bridge in Malyn. We confirm our readiness for further active cooperation in the reconstruction and recovery of Ukraine in the post-war period.
We note the key role of the Estonian Centre for International Development in reconstruction and hope that their experience will be widely used by other international partners in the implementation of future projects for the reconstruction of Ukraine and will attract funding from foreign donors.
We commit to enhancing our coordination on all further matters by deepening bilateral interactions. We reaffirm our joint commitment to fostering a close partnership between Ukraine and Estonia, grounded in shared values and an unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. We emphasize the significance of international cooperation and the engagement of the global democratic community in achieving an unconditional victory for Ukraine, as well as in supporting Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction efforts. We look forward to further collaboration across various sectors for the mutual benefit of both nations.
