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President Ilves met with the US Secretary of Defence, Ashton Carter
23.06.2015
"Estonia and the United States of America are both NATO and bilateral allies; we can rely on each other's support and hope for mutual assistance, should we need it," said President Ilves at a meeting with the US Secretary of Defence, Ashton Carter, who was on a working visit to Tallinn.
The US's powerful deterrence measures to strengthen security in the region and Estonian-US partnership in the sphere of cyber security, which involve support for cyber weaker allies and military co-operation between the two countries, all reinforce this statement.
The Estonian Head of State emphasised that the decision of the US Government, announced today by Secretary of Defence, Carter, to pre-deploy armaments and equipment in six NATO member states in Eastern and Central Europe – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria – will contribute to the general security of Europe, as does the permanent rotated presence of allied units.
When discussing Russia's military activities in Ukraine, both President Ilves and Secretary of Defence Carter conformed that the democratic community can never agree to military intervention replacing agreed and valid principles in international relationships in Europe.
"Economic sanctions against Russia must not be mitigated or lifted before Russia has, visibly and convincingly, ended its armed intervention in Ukraine," stated the Estonian Head of State.
Office of the President
Public Relations Department
