Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, visiting Ukraine, opened a resilience center in the Ukrainian capital on 5 February, funded by his country.
The center will provide shelter, warmth, and psychological support amid ongoing Russian terror and prolonged power and heating outages, Tsahkna wrote on social media platform X.
"In the surrounding darkness, this ray of light helps ensure that Russia's attempts to break the spirit of Ukrainians fail," he added.
Estonia contributed 2 million euros to Ukraine's Energy Support Fund in December. In January, Estonian non-governmental organizations raised an additional 400,000 euros.
During a press conference in Kyiv on 6 February, Tsahkna presented a list of new energy assistance but did not specify its contents.
The Estonian minister also reported that the EU is still working on the twentieth sanctions package against Russia, and Tallinn hopes it will be adopted by 24 February. This package targets the energy sector and shadow fleet.
Tsahkna discussed an initiative for a blacklist of Russians that would ban participants in Russian aggression against Ukraine from entry.
"My question was this: European people are ready for peace that will come someday, but we also know that these former combatants can come to Europe. Therefore, we initiated the process of creating a 'blacklist' of all these ex-combatants for the Schengen zone, so that they can never come to Europe in the future," Tsahkna said on press conference.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the parties discussed further cooperation in cybersecurity and Ukraine's recovery process.
Estonia will host the next Ukraine Recovery Conference next year in cooperation with Nordic-Baltic countries, Tsahkna announced.
Responding to a question about whether the EU should negotiate separately with Russia, Sybiha said there can be no appeals to Putin with persuasions for contact and no talk of bringing Putin out of isolation.
Commenting on the issue of resumed US-Russia dialogue on nuclear weapons, Sybiha stated: "I will not comment on bilateral relations between countries and Ukraine. But I can definitely say how such relations with Russia end. They always end in deception. They always end with Russia not fulfilling its obligations. This is what needs to be understood when resuming, establishing, continuing contacts with the Russian side."
Upon arrival in Kyiv, the Estonian foreign minister visited sites of strikes on civilian objects in the capital. Earlier, he called the Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy system on 3 February state terrorism. Tsahkna also visited Zhytomyr Oblast, where two social infrastructure facilities built with Estonian funds were opened.
"It was very heart moving to see these families who had to leave their homes and how they are welcomed amongst all these people and how they have a safe and warm homes there," Tsahkna said.
Ukraine and Estonia also discussed peace efforts, including results from meetings in Abu Dhabi and further steps, agreeing that diplomatic success requires increased pressure on the aggressor.
Sybiha thanked Estonia for joining the steering committee of the Special Tribunal, calling it "true leadership on the accountability track and increasing pressure on the aggressor."
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, during a two-day visit to Ukraine, visited Chernihiv Oblast, including the village of Yahidne, where Russian forces held more than 300 people captive. In Kyiv, Rutte inspected one of the capital's power plants damaged in a Russian attack. During his speech in the Verkhovna Rada, the NATO secretary general stated that 90% of missiles for Ukrainian air defense came through the PURL program.
