TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Nordic and Baltic leaders who were in Estonia for a regional summit Tuesday, a visit that comes amid friction over Ukrainian drones straying into the region in recent months.
The drones have crashed into the chimney of a power plant in Estonia, hit empty fuel tanks in Latvia and been shot down by Romanian fighter jets stationed in Lithuania. Ukrainian officials apologized, saying the drones had been aimed at military targets in Russia but were sent off course by Russian electronic interference.
Estonia hosted the summit in its capital of Tallinn amid Russia’s 4-year-old, full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Estonia holds the rotating presidency of the NB8, a regional grouping of the five Nordic and three Baltic countries, and brought together the bloc’s prime ministers, along with Zelenskyy.
Sharing Ukraine’s drone expertise
Zelenskyy and Estonian President Alar Karis agreed to work on cheaper ways to shoot down drones that have flown over Estonia, including one that a NATO fighter jet shot down over the south of the country in May.
“We have shown that we can shoot the drones down with the planes,” Karis said at a news conference. Using fighter jets to shoot down the drones is expensive, he added, so he hopes to partner with Ukraine for its technology and expertise to do it more cheaply.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine was ready to do so, drawing on its experience with helping countries in the Middle East shoot down drones, where it had sent experts to train local forces. “We did this in the Middle East, and it worked,” he said.
He said Ukraine could offer the low-cost interceptor drones it has deployed at home to build an inexpensive shield against Russian drone attacks, and that Kyiv could send experts to its European partners “at any moment.”
Karis said he expects drones to cross into Baltic airspace as the war continues and urged the public to remain calm. Estonia and the other Baltic nations are among Ukraine’s staunchest supporters in its war against Russia.
Ukraine’s bid for EU membership
Zelenskyy said his talks with the leaders had focused on advancing diplomacy, strengthening air defenses and Ukraine’s path to European Union membership. He said Kyiv had met the conditions to open its accession negotiations and urged the bloc to approve them this summer.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels that Ukraine is “making extraordinary progress” on reforms to allow it to join the EU and that “it’s high time for us also now to deliver.”
Prospective members must complete negotiations in 35 policy areas, or chapters, ranging from agriculture to trade in a process that can take years.
Zelenskyy also said Ukraine and Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs signed a drone deal to deepen joint defense and co-production.
Russia’s deadly strikes on Ukraine
Russia, meanwhile, kept up its strikes across Ukraine. In the northeastern Kharkiv region, three people were killed and 25 others, including three children, were wounded in attacks in the past 24 hours, said Oleh Syniehubov, head of the regional administration.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, three people were wounded when several districts came under attack overnight, said regional administration head Oleksandr Hanzha.
Russia launched 166 long-range strike drones and two guided missiles at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said, with air defenses shooting down 146 of the drones.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its defenses downed 140 drones overnight. A woman was killed when a Ukrainian drone hit an apartment building in the Belgorod region neighboring Ukraine, regional emergency officials said.In Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine is “making extraordinary progress” on reforms to allow it to join the EU and that “it’s high time for us also now to deliver.”
Seeking more sanctions on Russia
Zelenskyy said he had pressed for tougher sanctions on Russia, including its shadow fleet. He also held talks with Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on bolstering Ukraine’s air defenses.
“All of our partners now note that Ukraine’s positions on the front are significantly stronger, and so our diplomacy, which we are working to step up, must proceed from that,” Zelenskyy said. “Unfortunately, Russia is trying to make up for its enormous battlefield losses with strikes on our cities and communities, and on civilian infrastructure.”
In Brussels, Von der Leyen announced proposals for new sanctions against Russia targeting its energy, financial and trade sectors, including fisheries for the first time with a ban on cod, among other measures.
She also proposed banning EU entry for “anyone who has served in the Russian armed forces since the beginning of the war” to ensure that Europe stays off-limits “for anyone who has participated in the invasion of Ukraine.”
The sanctions must be endorsed by the 27 EU member countries before they can come into force.
On Monday, Zelenskyy said he had held positive talks with U.S. representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner during a stopover at an airport in Moldova’s capital, describing them as focused on ending the war. In a social media post, he said the two sides discussed diplomatic prospects ahead of this month’s Group of Seven summit, and that he had briefed the U.S. side on Ukraine’s assessment of Russia’s intentions.
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