Pevkur made his remarks as EU leaders this week agreed to ease borrowing for defense spending.

The European Council has expedited an €800 billion rearmament plan.

Talking to "Ringvaade," Pevkur identified two aspects to this.

"The first part is that member states can borrow up to 1.5 percent on their own, and this will not count toward excessive deficit calculations," he said.

"This is vital because many countries, including us, have a problem. If we have been at a budget deficit running around 3 percent, we technically should not exceed that," Pevkur continued, referring to the Maastricht criteria.

"At the same time, we know that we have to invest in national defense very quickly, so this helps us as well. The hope is that if all member states take up this option, it will amount to up to €650 billion," Pevkur continued.

As for the second aspect of the Council decision: "The loan that the EU will collectively take – €150 billion – and this will be offered to European countries," the minister went on.

"We will certainly be looking at the conditions and whether this will also be excluded from the deficit calculation. That will determine whether and how much of this centrally offered loan we could make use of," Pevkur added.

In any case, Pevkur emphasized that the loan aspect is secondary, as the primary focus should be on the capabilities Estonia needs to acquire.

The Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) and the Ministry of Defense have a precise overview of this, Pevkur added, information which is soon to be put to the government.

This would include long-range artillery capabilities such as those provided by HIMARS, even if that system does not end up being the sole area of focus.

"Broadly speaking, it concerns deep firepower – meaning we would be able to strike the enemy from a greater distance than they can strike us," Pevkur said.

"Second, it concerns our 'eyes and ears' – so we know where the enemy is. Third, it concerns additional ammunition beyond the €1.6 billion already allocated. And fourth, certainly the capabilities and needs that the EDF has long discussed, such as replacing ships and acquiring additional artillery pieces," he enumerated.

Pevkur said that with effective preliminary groundwork, it would be viable to obtain the necessary materiel relatively quickly, and within the next few years.

The bulk of the EDF leadership's order list can be acquired, he added.

Thursday's European Council summit, which was visited by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saw €150 billion in ramped-up aid to Ukraine pledged.

While Estonia has a lengthy coastline, its navy is relatively small since, particularly with Sweden and Finland joining NATO, allied nations take on a large proportion of responsibility for maritime defense.

This frees up Estonia to focus on its eastern land border; the same can be said of Latvia and Lithuania, both of whom share borders not only with the Russian Federation but also with Russia's ally, Belarus.

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