Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Estonia on Tuesday to attend a summit of Nordic and Baltic (NB8) leaders. During his visit, he met with Estonian President Alar Karis in Tallinn, the capital. Estonia is currently holding the rotating presidency of the NB8, a regional organisation comprising the five Nordic countries and three Baltic states. The summit brought together the bloc’s prime ministers, along with President Zelenskyy, who was accompanied by First Lady Olena Zelenska. The Estonian Foreign Ministry extended a welcome to Mrs Zelenska via a post on the social media platform X.
This visit takes place amid escalating tensions surrounding Ukrainian drones, which have entered the region on several occasions in recent months. The Ukrainian military has intensified strikes on Baltic Sea ports utilised by Russia for oil exports, aiming to impose economic repercussions on Moscow for its ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Concurrently, Russia has sustained its aerial assaults across Ukraine. In the northeastern Kharkiv region, three people lost their lives and 25 others, including three children, sustained injuries from attacks over the past 24 hours, as reported by Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the regional administration. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, three people were injured when various districts experienced overnight attacks, according to regional administration head Oleksandr Hanzha.
The Ukrainian Air Force stated that Russia launched 166 long-range strike drones and two guided missiles targeting Ukraine overnight, with air defences successfully intercepting 146 of the drones. Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed that its air defences shot down 140 Ukrainian drones during the same period. Additionally, a woman lost her life when a Ukrainian drone struck an apartment building in the Belgorod region, according to regional emergency officials.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also visited Tallinn, where he met with his Estonian counterpart, Margus Tsahkna. Their conversation centred on Ukraine’s security situation, increasing pressure on Russia, and Kyiv’s aspirations for European Union membership. In May, Minister Tsahkna expressed Estonia’s support for Ukraine’s EU bid, emphasising the importance of progressing the application process.
“Estonia will continue to stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Tsahkna wrote on X. “As Putin intensifies his attacks and shows no sign of abandoning his imperial ambitions, our responsibility is to increase pressure, not offer concessions.”
Separately, President Zelenskyy stated on Monday that he held constructive talks with US representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner during a brief stopover at an airport in Moldova’s capital. He characterised these discussions as focused on strategies to conclude the war and noted that they reviewed diplomatic avenues in anticipation of the upcoming Group of Seven summit. Furthermore, he provided the US representatives with an assessment of Ukraine’s outlook regarding Russia’s intentions.
This article used information from The Associated Press.
