IT and foreign trade minister Kristjan Järvan said: Cybersecurity is one of the cornerstones of national security, as in addition to physical combat, active battles are increasingly being fought online. Ukraine's success in countering cyber attacks shows that the exchange of knowledge between the two countries is fruitful," Järvan said, noting that Estonia, as one of the most highly valued advocates of cybersecurity globally, has led to its advisors being at the forefront of boosting Ukraine's cyber resilience.

"Estonia continues to offer Ukraine broad-based assistance in ensuring cyber security both during the current brave fight against Russia and in the future," Järvan went on, according to a ministry press release, after signing a cooperation agreement in Kyiv this week which will promote the exchange of experience in the field of digital transformation, particularly with reference to cyber security and national digital solutions.

Järvan added that Ukraine sees Estonia as a key partner in developing its digital government, while: "Estonia is happy to promote the integration of Ukrainian digital services with Europe, supporting their cyber capability and continued work on the creation of a digital state."

Undersecretary for Digital Transformation Luukas Kristjan Ilves stressed that Ukraine's digital governance capabilities has grown rapidly in the past few years.

Ilves said "I am convinced that the development of Ukraine's digital society will continue on a positive course after the war has ended. The partnership with Ukraine makes us both stronger and contributes to the security and digital development of western societies in general."

Ilves noted the cooperation since the current phase of the conflict, its boost to cyber security and e-governance in Ukraine, and the symbiotic benefit for Estonia in learning from Ukraine's experience in ensuring the uninterrupted functioning of both its communications networks and e-services, during a conflict situation.

Estonia itself is also working to make its digital governance more effective and sustainable, Ilves added, fiving the example of cooperation with Finland in the joint development of the X-Road program and contributions to the GovStack initiative.

Ukraine is also en route to full membership of the Tallinn-based NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE).

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov (pictured), who signed the cooperation agreement, also noted the importance of Estonia and its role model in Ukraine's continued cyber-development, which will also continue via a cellphone-based app to be jointly developed by the Estonian Information System Authority (RIA) and Ukrainian agency Diia

Ukraine's data exchange layer Trembita was developed by Estonian company Cybernetica and is very similar to Estonia's X-Road, Lukas Ilves added.

"During the war, Ukrainians have demonstrated incredible agility, creating completely new e-services within days and weeks," Ilves said.

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