Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, held a joint news conference with Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas on Tuesday (8 March).
Blinken assured Estonia that Nato and the Biden administration will help protect their security should Russia expand their military operation beyond Ukraine.
Blinken reiterated that NATO is prepared to defend "every inch" of its territory with the collective defense: "Our commitment to Article 5 is ironclad, an attack on one is an attack on all."
The secretary of state said the U.S. is working with the Baltics on cyber and energy security and has already sent jets to the region to bolster NATO's air policing mission. "We hope for the best but we prepare for the worst," Blinken said.
Blinken also spoke about Baltic solidarity and their relations with Ukraine: "As I also said to the people of Latvia and Lithuania, the people of Estonia, who lived through decades of Soviet occupation, understand in a profound way how wrong Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war in Ukraine is. How the world has to defend Ukraine's right as a sovereign democratic country, free to choose its own future."
In addition to military assurance, PM Kallas and US secretary of state talked about tightening economic sanctions against Russia. All Russian and Belarus banks must be removed from the international SWIFT payments system, while cryptocurrencies should face restrictions, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said.
“Our focus must be on full isolation of Russia from the free world,” she added.
“Putin’s violence must be in correlation with further sanctions and also isolation decisions… We will keep finding new tools in our toolbox until Putin’s war machine has been paralyzed.”
Blinken: Our commitment to Article 5 is ironclad VIDEO (3)
Eestlased USAs | 08 Mar 2022 | EWR
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We'll how ironclad this is when Putin attacks Estonia
I'm impressed with Kallas's speech, a lot of substance.
Kallas: "...we need to also restrict crypto currencies, it is equally important to close the loopholes. We have closed our airspace, but we need to take a step forward and also close the seaports for Russian vessels ... until Putin's war machine has been paralyzed."
Kallas: "...we need to also restrict crypto currencies, it is equally important to close the loopholes. We have closed our airspace, but we need to take a step forward and also close the seaports for Russian vessels ... until Putin's war machine has been paralyzed."
Eestlased USAs
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