Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

established diplomatic relations on 4 January 1992. Relations between the two countries have remained consistently close, largely in part due to shared concerns of any aspirations of the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Estonia is a member of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, which Ukraine applied for in 2022. Both countries are full members of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

History

Estonia and the

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

recognized each other with an agreement signed on November 25, 1921. After the

collapse of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, the two countries re-recognized each other on August 26, 1991. Bilateral diplomatic relations between the two countries were re-established on January 4, 1992. An agreement on cooperation between Ukraine and Estonia was signed on May 26, 1992.

Russian Invasion of Ukraine

After the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

started, Estonia, as one of the EU countries, imposed sanctions on Russia, and Russia added all EU countries to the list of "unfriendly nations". Estonia joined other countries in spring 2022 in declaring a number of Russian diplomats ''Persona non grata''. Estonia also introduced a ban on Russian language media channels. In September 2022,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, and Estonia decided to close entry for Russian citizens with

Schengen The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

visas, including those issued by third countries. On 18 October 2022, the Estonian parliament voted in favour of officially recognizing Russia as a terrorist state. The

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (, from Estonian ''riigi-'', "of the state", and ''kogu'', "assembly") is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chi ...

also called on the international community to adopt a similar position. On 6 December 2022, Vadim Konoshchenok, a suspected FSB officer was arrested at the border with high tech electronic items and ammunition sourced in the US, additional goods were found in a warehouse Konoshchenok was renting. The USA sought his extradition, which was granted and actioned in July 2023. In January 2023, Estonian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mihkel Tamm announced Estonia's intention to seize $21.4 million in Russian assets in Estonia and deliver it to Ukraine. Estonia is working with European Commission on plans to seize Russian assets frozen in the European Union which are estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Estonia announced the expulsion of 21 Russian diplomats and technical staff in January 2023 and encouraged other European Union countries to follow suit. In response, Russia responded by downgrading its relations with Estonia and expelling the Estonian ambassador

Margus Laidre Margus Laidre (born 18 September 1959) is an Estonian historian and diplomat. In 1982, Laidre Maku graduated from Tartu University's Department of History. Diplomatic posts: * 1991 Ambassador to Sweden * 1996 Ambassador to Germany * 1997 Ambass ...

; Estonia responded in kind. Prime Minister

Kaja Kallas Kaja Kallas (; born 18 June 1977) is an Estonian politician and diplomat. She was the first female prime minister of Estonia, a role she held from 2021 until 2024, when she resigned in advance of her appointment as High Representative of the ...

called Russia a "threat to the whole of Europe".

, the parliament of Estonia, also passed two statements on the mobilization of Russia's pre-invasion forces and the start of the attack against Ukraine in 2022, in which it expressed support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine and condemned the war started by the Russian Federation. Estonia voted in favor of

United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-11/1 United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES‑11/1 is a resolution of the eleventh emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly, adopted on 2 March 2022. It deplored 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia's invasion of ...

. The resolution deplored

Russia's invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

and demanded a full withdrawal of

Russian forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Ground Forces, Navy, and Aerospace Forces—two independent combat ...

and a reversal of its decision to recognise the self-declared People's Republics of Donetsk and

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administra ...

. As of May 2023, 130,000 Ukrainians entered Estonia as a result of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with 71,000 currently living in Estonia. Around 200-300 Ukrainians apply for asylum in Estonia per week. Estonia has sent the most

aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Th ...

to Ukraine per capita, around 0.8% of Estonia's

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...

in 2 months, and 1.5% of its GDP as of 14 December 2023. On 11 January 2024,

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

visited Tallinn, Estonia, after he began a tour of the Baltic States. Zelenskyy met with Estonian political leaders and addressed the Estonian parliament with a speech expressing gratitude for the Estonian government's and people's support and aid for Ukraine. After Zelenskyy's visit, the

President of Estonia The president of the Republic of Estonia () is the head of state of the Estonia, Republic of Estonia. The current president is Alar Karis, elected by Parliament on 31 August 2021, replacing Kersti Kaljulaid. Estonia is one of the few parliam ...

Alar Karis Alar Karis (; born 26 March 1958) is an Estonian molecular geneticist, developmental biologist, civil servant and politician who, since 11 October 2021, has served as the sixth president of Estonia. Prior to presidency Karis was born in Tar ...

pledged to allocate 1.2 billion

euros The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

( $1.3 billion) worth of aid for Ukraine until 2027.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Estonia has an embassy in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. * Ukraine has an embassy in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

. File:Eesti saatkonnahoone Kiievis 2012 (1).jpg, Embassy of Estonia in Kyiv File:Embassy of Ukraine in Tallinn.jpg, Embassy of Ukraine in Tallinn

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Estonia-Ukraine Relations

Bilateral relations of Ukraine

History

Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Resident diplomatic missions

See also

References