Estonian president: Ukraine's NATO membership still possible despite Trump

Estonian President Alar Karis has urged people not to lose hope in Ukraine’s future NATO membership, even though there is currently no unanimous political will among allies to approve it.

Karis was asked in an interview with Lithuanian broadcaster LRT whether he believes Ukraine’s accession to NATO is realistic in light of former US President Donald Trump’s recent remarks dismissing the idea.

"It’s worth remembering that Estonia began discussing NATO membership when Russian troops were still on our soil, and not everyone believed Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania would ever become NATO members. But here we are – NATO members and allies," Karis said.

Karis added that both Finland and Sweden have recently joined NATO despite a long history of neutrality.

"Ukraine also needs security guarantees. And in the long term, we are convinced Ukraine will become a NATO member as well," Karis added.

Estonia plans to allocate over 5% of its GDP to defence needs next year.

Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur believes NATO countries can realistically raise their defence spending to 5% of GDP within five years.

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