Prime minister, president express solidarity to Ukrainian counterparts

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform).
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform). Source: Ken Mürk/ERR

Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform) expressed her condolences for the victims of the Russian military attack and Ukraine, to her opposite number in that country, Denys Shmyhal.

Speaking briefly on the 'phone to Shmyhal Thursday evening, Kallas added that the Estonian people stand firm with the Ukrainian people.

Kallas said: "The brutality Putin has taken against European democracy is shocking, but the Ukrainians have an insane will to defend and courage."

Estonia will continue to make every effort to help Ukraine in the international arena, Kallas went on. "We stand steadfastly for and beside Ukraine, both spiritually and politically and economically, providing the necessary resources for protection and humanitarian aid," she continued, according to a government press release.

An extraordinary meeting had been called with EU heads of state and government, in Brussels, Kallas added, during which sanctions are likely to be discussed again.

"We must apply the toughest sanctions against both Russia and Belarus," Kallas noted.

Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, also addressed that meeting, EU ambassador to Ukraine Mati Maasikas, who is Estonian, tweeted Thursday evening.

Estonia's ambassador to Ukraine is still in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Kallas added, and also thanked Prime Minister Shmyhal for aiding Estonia's foreign minister Eva-Maria Liimets to leave Kyiv once the capital came under attack.

Liimets had been in Ukraine on a two-day visit as announced earlier in the week, which was cut short by Thursday's invasion.

Estonia's president, Alar Karis, also spoke briefly to President Zelenskyy on Thursday evening.

"The world is with you. Estonia is with you. We are ready to help in every way we can," Karis tweeted.

Foreign minister, Eva-Maria Liimets also spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the phone, thanking him for the arrival of two U.S. F-35 stealth fighters in Estonia.

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Editor: Andrew Whyte

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