Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he expects important decisions for Ukraine to be made at the EU, G7 and NATO summits in June and July, Ukrinform reported, citing a statement by Zelensky during a joint press conference with Estonian President Alar Karis at the summit in Tallinn, BTA reports.
Zelensky arrived in Estonia to participate in the summit in the NB8 format – a regional group consisting of the five Scandinavian countries and the three Baltic states in NATO.
“The most important thing today is to prepare for the negotiations and decisions that we all expect from the summits at the EU, G7 and NATO levels. June and July of this year could be decisive“, Zelensky said. According to him, the first thing Ukraine needs is clear diplomatic action “so that Russia does not think that war can bring it anything“.
“Ukraine's positions on the front lines are strong. Russia loses over 30,000 of its soldiers every month, killed or seriously wounded. Our long-term impact on Russian logistics, oil refining and military production is also significant. There is already a shortage of gasoline in the temporarily occupied Crimea and parts of Russia, and in some places there is no stable connection; the Russian budget is ruined. "We must maintain pressure and return Russia to the diplomatic path," the president noted. He also stressed that Russia has not yet shown readiness for negotiations.
In Tallinn, Zelensky and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristershon discussed progress on agreements with Swedish Gripen fighter jets and agreed on further actions, the Ukrainian leader said in a statement on Telegram. According to him, during the meeting, the two sides coordinated their further cooperation for the near future. Special attention was also paid to strengthening Ukraine's air defense, in particular, finding ways to acquire air defense systems and missiles for them.
Zelensky also met with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, and the key topics they discussed were the drone deal and the missile defense program. "The teams are working, and the most important thing is to have more protection in Europe," the statement said. He noted that special attention was also paid to the need for Ukraine to strengthen its air defense, the security challenges in the region and diplomatic efforts to achieve a just peace.
"I informed the Prime Minister about our contacts with the Europeans and the Americans. I am grateful to the government, the people and all of Finland for their support for Ukraine - above all for all the military assistance packages and the contribution to the Ukraine Priority Needs List (PURL) initiative. It is important that Finland is ready to continue to help," he stressed.