Yesterday in Brussels at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (Ramstein) meeting, Estonian Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur signed declarations of intent for Estonia to join drone and demining coalitions to support Ukraine. The meeting was the first after the change of command in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, where all defence ministers expressed their support for continuing military aid to Ukraine.
„Estonia is joining the Latvian-led drone coalition and Lithuanian-led demining coalition. Within these coalitions, contributing nations will cooperate to increase drone capabilities in Ukraine and to seek ways to support Ukraine in both combat and humanitarian demining,“ commented Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur.
At the Ramstein meeting, held both in person at the NATO headquarters and in virtual format, the defence ministers also received an overview of the activities of the capability coalitions.
„I gave my colleagues an overview of the IT Coalition progress, led by Estonia and Luxembourg. To date, 11 states have joined the coalition and the financial contributions alone total over 30 million euros. In addition, I am very pleased to see that the Steering Group of the coalition has already given the NATO procurement agency NSPA approval to release the first purchase orders that support Ukraine with the most critical needs,” said Minister of Defence Pevkur.
The IT Coalition includes Ukraine, Estonia, Luxembourg, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and Netherlands. In addition, the United Kingdom has signed a declaration of intent to join the coalition. The IT Coalition was created in September 2023 at the Ramstein meeting to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Ministry of Defence in the area of information and communication to help boost Ukraine’s efficiency on the battlefield.
Commenting on the current situation regarding aid to Ukraine, minister Pevkur said that „2024 is a critical year for the Ramstein coalition, including the US and Europe, to agree on long-term support for Ukraine. The Government of Estonia has already made a long-term commitment to provide Ukraine with aid in the amount of 0.25% of our GDP for the next four years.“
Estonian Ministry of Defence analysis shows that each Ramstein coalition member committing 0.25% of GDP to military support of Ukraine, in addition to other significant steps such as increased and improved training, increased production and continuing delivery of critical weapons systems, would be sufficient for Ukrainian victory in the coming years.
In addition to the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting, the three Baltic States and three NATO battlegroup framework nations gathered to discuss regional security.
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