it's good that it unites us, because we feel how close we are to each other, even though we are separated by some, some kilometers separate us, and none the less, but still speaking of help, is there some statistics, exactly how much help, for example, military or financial, we have received so far from the republic of estonia, yes, of course, there are very reliable statistics, estonia provided. since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, more than 26 million euros of aid and this is as government state aid, aid from the private sector sector and ordinary ordinary citizens, with regard to military aid, it has already reached more than 500 million, if compared with gdp, estonia provided aid for more than. 1-3%

of our gdp, this means that we are one of the most active countries that supports ukraine, in addition, the government of estonia decided at the end of last year that they will allocate 0.25% of our gdp for ukraine annually for the next four years , specifically for the military. aid for recovery, so our aid will definitely continue and estonia will do everything maybe to increase humanitarian and other aid to ukraine, well, i can only answer this in estonian, i will try, madam ambassador, don't criticize my accent too much, thank you for everything estonia does for us, but look, one more moment, a few months ago pa'. the parliament of estonia passed

a law, and then the president of estonia ratified this law, which this law allows the use of frozen russian assets to compensate for the damages that russia has caused in this war of aggression in ukraine. already several months have passed, it seems two months have passed since this law came into force, have there already been any transfers, this is the first question, to ukraine, i mean, and the second question is whether other western... countries took an example from estonia, because estonia was the first western country to pass such a law. yes, of course, estonia was one of the first countries that started to say that there is no need to use frozen russian assets to rebuild ukraine because the aggressor has to pay a price for it, and we were one of of the first countries, which... two years ago said

that we need to start reconstruction, restoration of ukraine already during the war, we don't need to wait until it ends, because we need to give people hope and help refugees, those who left ukraine, and then they started to come back, then we tried to understand, analyze all the possibilities. ways to make russia pay the price for the damage it has done to ukraine, and we have been pioneers in introducing such legislation regarding the use of frozen russian assets for the restoration of ukraine. and these assets are not only state assets, but also the property of private individuals and legal entities in estonia. and all those

who are under international sanctions, the law was passed recently, and the regulatory processes are still ongoing, because everything must comply with international rules, so that we do not create unnecessary problems for ukraine in the years to come, so we are currently working on this and i think we have great progress is being made in this direction, i hope we can demonstrate to the whole world that it is possible that you can use all the frozen assets and the profits from those assets, not only directly, the profits for the fact that simply we held those assets before, and you set a very great example for the western countries by passing this law, and other countries did not.. . in

your opinion, personal opinion, why they do not pass such laws, just your personal opinion, because of fear, is something else possible, right? well, it is very difficult for me to say why certain countries do something or do not do something, but i think that there are some legal issues, legal issues that countries are discussing, but estonia really our national legislation tried to do so, in such... bring in such a form to prove that we can do it without violating european or international law, i really hope, that the western partners will see this, and they will not delay and pass similar laws in their countries, but now we move on to something else, the post-war

reconstruction of ukraine, after all, even this reconstruction is already underway in different parts of ukraine, and those that were under temporary... does estonia have any projects in this case, state or non-state projects, with which it helps to rebuild ukrainian cities and villages? yes, yes, of course, as i already said, we started this work already in the 22nd year, and all these projects related to reconstruction in ukraine began then. in the zhytomyr region, it is conditionally ours, our region, our region, since estonia is a small country and, and we have limited resources, and we thought that we should approach the issue of restoring ukraine very comprehensively, so we

have chosen one area, one region for themselves, and we are providing assistance for reconstruction right there, we helped to build it. a new kindergarten, and we conduct training for teachers, educators, in order for such help to be long-term, just not just to build one house or one shelter, but to help in such a way that it is long-term and covers the problems faced by a specific region , understand well, but they talked about the money coming from estonia, or, for example, the military support that is coming from estonia to ukraine, let's talk now about the help that ukrainians who are currently in the territory of the republic of estonia receive. do you have any statistics at this very moment, how many

citizens of ukraine are there, and whether there is any tendency to return to ukraine. statistics about ukrainians living now in estonia, and we provided them from the first day of their arrival in estonia with any assistance, any assistance that we could provide, it is medical assistance, social protection, education, we also opened two special schools, specialized. schools for ukrainian children, where they can be educated in the estonian language, but keep their language, their culture, and can study according to the ukrainian curriculum, so we are trying to do everything

for the ukrainian refugees who are in estonia so that they do not lose this connection with one's country, with one's culture. of course, we have other plans, projects, but the main slogan of the government is that it is necessary for ukrainians to feel that they are welcome here in estonia, and i can say with confidence about the fact that ukrainians in estonia definitely feel that they are welcomed in this country, since my daughter has been living in the territory of the republic of estonia for more than two years, she studies there and she... er, knows how estonians think how estonians are helping, and how estonians are trying to do everything in order to bring our joint victory over the russian aggressor closer. now a little about the victory: in estonia, besides, of course, women and children, there are many men who

received it, it is not a temporary shelter, it is called temporary protection, as far as i understand, in estonia, please tell me, now in many, at least... they are talking about the fact that they somehow try to cooperate with the government of ukraine regarding men who are subject to conscription into the army and who. military servicemen in order to somehow help these men, well , at least register in ukraine with the relevant authorities, and maybe even return them to ukraine, is there something similar in estonia? yes, such discussions, such requests started coming in some time ago, but our... the previous prime minister said that since people live in estonia

legally, we granted them temporary residence permits and temporary protection, and we do not plan to send them back to ukraine, because we have rules. we have obligations, and this also comes from european legislation, that is, we have no plans to send them back to ukraine, however, in this sense we cooperate with the ukrainian authorities, with the ukrainian embassy in tallinn, and we understand that there are needs in ukraine , but i think that many... who live in ukraine, they want to return to their country, they

are waiting for such an opportunity for the opportunity to return, this was one of the reasons why we started reconstruction so early, so that people can see the perspective of the future, we have kindergartens, our local communities, etc., so that people have it's easier to return, we... uh, of course, cooperate with the ukrainian authorities, in order to understand how we can help. ukrainians, but as i say, we are not going to send them back if they don't want it. understood, madam ambassador, one more question, ah, a question, one might say, from of ukrainian students studying in estonia, recently, well, literally a month or two ago... there was information that, for example, in lithuania they are preparing or have already passed a law, according to which they will deprive

the benefits of ukrainian students studying under the exchange program , are they going to do something like that in estonia or not? we have ukrainian students who have been studying at estonian universities for many years, even before it started. and we have many ukrainian students, and we are proud of them, because they are very smart, they are very are eager to study, and so far, well, i have not had any information about the government's plans to end assistance under the programs that are currently active. therefore, ukrainian students should calm down, everything will be fine, thanks, of course, to our brothers and sisters in estonia. let's

now once again return to the topic of war, unfortunately, and talk about red lines, there is a lot of talk about these red lines in the west, for some they exist, for some they are clearly defined, for some they are very vague, but for estonia in this war, and in ours joint war, i will call it so... in our joint war with the russian aggressor, are there any red lines? this is my favorite question, thanks for it. estonia has never spoken of any red lines. for us, the most important thing, one of the most important things, is... integrity, territorial integrity, democracy, cultural identity of people, and we strive

for this in estonia, in our country, and this is what we really like in ukraine, and we don't see it no red lines when it comes to russia's brutal war against ukraine, everyone war crimes, genocide. er, what they have committed, we er, believe that there cannot be any red lines here, and... our goal is to preserve ukrainian independence, democracy, territorial integrity, so we support ukraine in everything we can in order to it could achieve these goals, and accordingly, we

do not ... see any red lines here as such, the government has already said on many occasions that we are ready to discuss any possibility to help the ukrainians, and the most important thing is to help ukraine win precisely in this war then we are ready to discuss any solutions, ways, but since we are small. country, we understand that we need to cooperate with other countries, move together, then it will be easier to discuss these issues with our partners, and we are ready to be a pioneer in certain solutions, so our red line,

if i can call it that , or the blue... yellow line is precisely to help ukraine win this war. just great words, this is not a red line, but a yellow-blue line, and it is to help ukraine, to win this aggressive war. it simply, simply incredible. i thank you very much for that. and look, in estonia itself, i understand that you are now trying your best to help us win this war, but estonia is not being considered, is it? they will say whether they are preparing, i will say directly, whether they are preparing in estonia for a possible attack by russia now, because they talked about it a lot at the beginning of the invasion of ukraine 2.5 years ago, but are they talking about it now in estonia, of course, when we became an independent state

in the early 90s. we were always very careful with our neighbor and none we had no illusions about the fact that russia has no plans for an invasion, and we have always talked about a possible threat from russia, both in nato and in the eu. we warned other countries about this, so we have been preparing for self-defense for a long time since the early 90s, that is why we wanted to acquire membership in the eu, and we wanted to join nato, we prepared step by step for this, and every

year we increased our expenses. for defense, for defense and called on others, other nato countries for this, to defend themselves both individually and jointly, collectively, therefore yes, we are preparing and continue to prepare, i can't say that we started thinking about it, or preparing only after the 14th year, when russia... occupied a part of ukraine, or after the start of a full-scale war, we step by step daily, did something to protect yourself from this evil, and you must always prepare to defend yourself from this evil , because this evil is not foreseen, this evil can attack in any wave, i witnessed this in february 2022, so we must

constantly prepare . let's say two more words about ordinary estonians, your country is not... big, but as far as i know, different people live in different parts, of course, what is the attitude of estonians after 2.5 years of full-scale invasion of ukraine to the support of your government of ukraine and to the fact that what is happening in ukraine. why am i asking because, as far as i know, in the north-east of estonia, in the narva area, there are a lot of russian-speaking citizens of estonia living there, or they support it. all the actions of your estonian government in support of ukraine? so many. years we have a russian-speaking minority living in estonia, we have been trying to integrate them into estonian society for almost 30 years now, and

of course we see that there is a certain contingent of people who do not want this integration, they still look more towards russia, but... we certainly support ukraine and further, it is not even a question of reducing such aid, i think that since the war has been going on for more than 2 and a half years and the brutality of putin's regime is increasing, intensifying, and we are ready to help ukraine in the long term, not only for victory , and for

the recovery of further, so the support is increasing, i can say, and if you look at non-governmental organizations, ordinary citizens who help ukraine, we see that every month, or even... every week, support comes from ordinary estonians who collect or humanitarian aid provide, but just yesterday i read that three estonian non-governmental organizations, which have been helping ukraine for more than 2.5 years, were sent to ukraine again. aid column and there were medical products, and drones,

and military aid, for the front, for the army, for the rescuers, for the rescuers, they help and help continues to come and even increases in volume. how much, as i said, is the admiration for ukraine, it is very big in estonia, and every day we are shocked by the brutality of the putin regime, eh, what is he going on, this brutality is happening, and of course, our support will not decrease, it will only increase, well this is a mutual admiration, i must tell you, we admire estonians e. for their support and help to ukraine from the very beginning, because in some countries they are trying to find some things to justify the fact that they do not want to help, and we admire the estonians, who

have helped and supported us since the first day of the war. madam ambassador, i thank you very much for visiting me today and the last question for you: you have been in ukraine for a year, i understand that you have a busy schedule, you came to us after an important meeting, i mean for an interview yes, and... you have a lot of such meetings, but do you have time, or did you have time this year to travel, a little travel through ukraine, do you have a favorite place in ukraine? definitely, when i came to ukraine a year ago, i told my colleagues that i am the ambassador in ukraine, not in kyiv, which means that i have to travel a lot and see. how local communities live, i have to communicate with people, and yes, i have been to kharkiv, odesa, rivne,

zhytomyr, of course, this is our partner, a partner region, and i have been to many corners of ukraine, and i think that it is important to show local communities that we support them and we are not afraid. come to them, to come to these territories, because we understand that what they face every day, these attacks, shelling, alarms, and it is important for me to demonstrate that i am here, i am ready to provide adequate information to my capital so that they can decide , that more help is needed in one direction or another , so whatever. i love your country very much, it is very beautiful, very wonderful, i see more and more every day. surprisingly

very beautiful things, and i really like the resilience of ukrainians, and by the way, i was also on the front line at the beginning of march, i said that i needed to talk to the soldiers, see what was happening at the front, and it was during those difficult times, when for... foreign aid began to somehow decrease or be delayed, and i then said that it was from the front that i needed to get , this feedback so that i can pass this information on to tallinn so that they can make the necessary decisions about what exactly is needed, so i will continue to travel, now i want to focus more

on those ... areas that are facing more with for everyone with the energy crisis, and to understand what is specifically needed for these regions, so of course i will travel as much as possible, traveling lady ambassador, for that we thank her, and we thank her for all the help and support we receive from the government estonia and from ordinary estonians, who from the very beginning began to help us defend our country, our independence, our sovereignty and... our territorial integrity. madam ambassador, i thank you very, very much for joining this conversation today. convey gratitude to all citizens of your country for everything you do for us. it was an interview with the ambassador of the republic of estonia to ukraine anna lee kolk, who came to us a year ago and has already done a lot in this position. espresso interviews will

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