Writing on her social media account, Kallas wrote: "Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It's up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge."

Ukraine is Europe!
We stand by Ukraine.

We will step up our support to Ukraine so that they can continue to fight back the aggressor.

Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It's up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge.

— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) February 28, 2025

Kallas made her remarks following Friday's ill-tempered exchange between President Trump and his vice president, J.D. Vance, and President Zelenskyy, who was on an official visit to the White House.

In a meeting before the media which started off in light-hearted terms, things took a heated turn on the issue of continued U.S. military support for Ukraine, with Trump angrily telling Zelenskyy he was in "no position to dictate" what the U.S. was going to do and did not "have the cards" right now," and was "gambling with World War Three."

Zelenskyy was also charged by both Trump and Vance of having disrespected both the Oval Office and the whole country, while even a reporter weighed in on the issue of Zelenskyy's attire for the meeting.

Vance reiterated a claim that Zelenskyy had not said "Thank you" to the U.S. during the course of the meeting, and referenced Zelenskyy having campaigned for the opposition, i.e. the Democratic Party, in the U.S. ahead of last November's election.

The Ukrainian president had ostensibly been in Washington to ink a planned minerals deal, but this went unsigned.

Meanwhile, Kallas had had a seemingly cordial meeting with the vice president at last month's Munich Security Conference.

She also noted the distinction between public exchanges before the press pack and behind-closed-doors meetings, telling daily Postimees in an interview that in the latter setting the Americans have been "quite reasonable."

French President Emmanuel Macron, German CDU leader and presumed chancellor-to-be Friedrich Merz, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, have all reaffirmed strong support for Ukraine and condemned Russian aggression.

Kallas, prime minister of Estonia 2021-2024, joined in with this in her post, stating that "Ukraine is Europe," "We stand by Ukraine," and "We will step up our support to Ukraine so that they can continue to fight back the aggressor."

Estonia's leaders, including President Alar Karis, Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform), and Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200), too, reaffirmed unwavering support for Ukraine, emphasizing solidarity, resilience, and the need for Europe to step up.

Eighteen European leaders including President Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are set to meet in London Sunday at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's invitation to discuss Ukraine, to be followed by an extraordinary EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Estonia is not invited to the Sunday summit, however.

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