Estonia's foreign minister Urmas Reinsalu has called on other European countries to double their defense expenditure because of the Russian war in Ukraine - adding that his own country planned raise national defense spending to 3% of GDP.
Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu made his comments in an interview during a visit to Kyiv with six other foreign ministers from the Nordic and Baltic region: Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
"We would like to see European countries doubling their defence expenditure in the time of the Ukrainian war and after the war, and we are going to spend 3% of our GDP on national defence," he said.
Ukraine, which is not a NATO member but has applied to join the alliance, has increasingly called for support from its Western allies since Russian increased its missile strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Reinsalu said the 27-nation European Union, which includes Estonia, should also increase the level of funding it earmarks in military support for Ukraine.
"The European Union combined has supported around 0.2% of its GDP to military assistance to Ukraine and I made a pledge if we could reach 1% it would make a grand difference on the ground in changing the course of the war," he said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote on Twitter that Monday's trip by Reinsalu and the six other ministers had included discussion of tightening EU sanctions, rebuilding Ukrainian energy infrastructure, financial support and Ukraine's "Euro-Atlantic aspirations."
The visit came the same day that US officials approved the potential sale of AIM 9X Block II tactical missiles, AGM-154 Joint Stand Off weapons and related equipment to Finland for an estimated cost of US$323.3 million, the Defense Department said on Monday.
