Estonia Summit Secures €12 Billion in Military Aid to Ukraine
18 December, 2024 Kristen Michal at the JEF summit press conference, December 17, 2024. Photo: ERR The summit of the Joint Expeditionary Force agreed to provide Ukraine with military assistance worth more than EUR12 billion in 2025.
This was reported by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. The summit allowed the countries of the Joint Expeditionary Force to sign new agreements on additional measures to support Ukraine in the war. In addition, they discussed the practical provision of assistance, including the supply of weapons, and ensuring further and stronger cooperation.
Connecting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the JEF summit.
Photo: EUToday
The summit, which took place in Tallinn, was attended by representatives of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. These countries are key members of the Allied Expeditionary Force, which aims to defend the Baltic States from the Russian threat. After a full-scale Russian invasion, they are also developing plans to support and assist Ukraine.
The Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) is a ten-nation coalition consisting of a high-altitude force designed for rapid response.
Joint Expeditionary Force soldiers during exercises. Photo: JEF
They are structured to integrate into broader international operations, including those conducted by NATO, the United Nations or other security coalitions. The JEF is capable of performing the full range of military operations, strengthening NATO's deterrence efforts and providing flexible, reliable and powerful forces to support the interests of the coalition member states.
Previously, Militarnyi reported that NATO, instead of the United States, had taken over the coordination of Western military assistance to Ukraine, as planned.
According to the media, this step, taken after a delay of several months, gives NATO a more direct role in the war against Russia's invasion, without involving its own forces.