At his meeting with Antoni Macierewiczi, Minister of National Defence for Poland, Minister of Defence Jüri Luik said that Russia's actions during the training exercise Zapad 2017 showed the correctness of NATO's decisions.
”As members of NATO, we are satisfied with the decision to deploy additional Allied units in the Baltic states and Poland for the duration of the training exercise,” said Luik.
According to the Minister of Defence, actions by the Russian forces before, during and after the training exercise Zapad 2017 far exceeded the limits requiring advance notification of manoeuvres and the invitation to view them.
According to the Estonian Minister of Defence, the exercise demonstrated that the decisions made by the Allies have been correct and that raising NATO's readiness to act in the region has been entirely justified.
Minister of Defence Jüri Luik and Antoni Macierewiczi, Minister of National Defence for Poland, also discussed preparations for the next NATO summit.
Estonia’s position is to continue with capability development, so that NATO's presence will be sufficient to ensure stability in the region.
At the European Union level the ministers chiefly focused on the creation of PESCO, as well as the development of logistical infrastructure to support the repositioning of Allied forces.
Luik thanked Poland for a good allied relationship and recognised Poland’s contribution to NATO’s activities.