Estonia to vote on transfer of frozen Russian assets for Ukraine soon
Estonia is finalizing a security agreement with Ukraine with guarantees to continue the struggle and will vote in the coming months to transfer frozen Russian assets to Ukraine for reconstruction.
This was stated by the Speaker of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu), Lauri Hussar, at a joint press conference with the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, following the meeting in Kyiv, Ukrinform reports.
"So far, Russia has not paid for its damage and crimes. We have to make them pay, so we need to use Russia's frozen assets to rebuild Ukraine. The Estonian parliament is currently discussing a proposal to use these assets to rebuild Ukraine. We have passed the first reading and are waiting for the second one. In the coming months, we will finalize the decision," he said.
Hussar noted that similar discussions are ongoing in the European parliaments and the US Congress, expressing confidence that a number of decisions will soon be made in democratic countries to take not only the income from frozen Russian assets, but also the assets themselves for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
The Riigikogu’s speaker added that Estonia has decided to provide 0.25% of our GDP annually to Ukraine until 2027. This means, according to him, that more than 100 million euros will be provided to Ukraine as military aid to Ukraine every year.
Ruslan Stefanchuk expressed his gratitude to Estonia for all the assistance that Ukraine has been receiving during the war, and noted the high level of political, military, economic, and humanitarian support from Estonian partners.
The Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada noted that during the meeting, he and his Estonian counterpart discussed the possibility of "broader cooperation in our region of Europe" and the prospects for Estonia's support of Ukraine on its path to European and Euro-Atlantic integration.
The Ukrainian official emphasized that Estonia has been and remains a leader in supporting Ukraine, as many decisions taken by European parliaments and European institutions were initiated in Estonia and the Estonian Parliament.
