On Monday morning, Pevkur suggested Salm should leave his post earlier than the end of the summer.

But Salm said: "I stood by my position that, as we talked about, on the morning of May 27, when I handed in my resignation and told the minister of defense the reasons for my resignation. Nothing has changed, and therefore I do not plan to leave any earlier."

The official said there were pragmatic reasons behind his decision.

"I think I have enough knowledge and experience and I think I need to hand it over in detail to the new permanent secretary of the Ministry of Defense. And I certainly intend to do that. I also have a series of meetings planned in July with the new incoming Chief of the Defense Forces Gen. Andrus Merilo to hand over all these things properly in the same way. Therefore, I do not plan to leave office earlier," he told ERR.

Salm pushed back on accusations from Pevkur that reasons other than ammunition procurement were behind his resignation. The minister said the timeline did not match up.

"Well, the minister tried to talk to me this morning about these dates, which I had to correct in conversation with him, of course, by saying that the minister is aware of it [the lack of money]. In fact, during the previous government, we have been talking about this issue, this problem, in detail in this ministry constantly and all the time, that this is the most burning problem of national defense that needs to be solved in Estonia," the permanent secretary said.

Salm referred back to his initial statement about a critical ammunition deficit worth €1.6 billion.

"Not enough has been done to develop Estonia's national defense over the past year, while the threat we face has grown. I think that this is the most important task of this generation, to be able to defend ourselves from military threats and thus prevent war, to make Estonia a safe place to live," said the official.

Salm rejected claims his move was connected to internal disputes within the Reform Party about its next chairman, of which Pevkur is seen as a contender to replace Kaja Kallas.

"Well, that is Minister of Defense Pevkur's interpretation. I do not plan to comment on it and these things are certainly not true. I have spoken to the defense minister about my reasons for leaving, and I have shared them more widely, and I stand by them 100 percent," he said.

Salm also said his resignation was not connected to the appointment of Andrus Merilo as head of the Estonian Defense Forces instead of Veiko-Vello Palm.

"I'm a professional, I'm certainly not offended by it, it's a decision for the minister of defense, ultimately for the Government of the Republic. What I also said in that interview was that I was disturbed by the selection process and also disturbed by the fact that a great many of the arguments were based on lies. I do not think that national defense decisions should be made in this way," he said.

"But as far as today's decision that Gen. Merilo is the commander of the Defense Forces is concerned, I have absolutely no problem with that – I trust Gen. Merilo 100 percent! Gen. Merilo has been 100 percent part of my team for the last few years. We think the same way and there is no issue here either, so this is all a very malicious interpretation of the situation," Salm stressed.

Asked how he can work with Pevkur until the end of the summer, Salm said: "I am, and will continue to try to be, a professional on these issues. I can work with everyone and any emotions need to be kept out of work business."

Salm announced his resignation last week, approximately halfway through his five-year term as permanent secretary, citing government inaction. He said Estonia needs to spend at least an additional €1.6 billion on ammunition to address a "critical" shortage. His view was backed by outgoing EDF chief Martin Herem.

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