"We are working with and have experience with countries in the Middle East, where we have already sent our teams who have trained personnel. /.../ We are ready to do the same with our close partners in Europe," Zelenskyy said at a press conference following his meeting with President Alar Karis, responding to a question in Ukrainian from ERR journalist Tatjana Gassova on whether Ukraine plans to do anything about drones straying into Baltic airspace.

"We can do it as part of our fast-track procedure, our drone deal, which is not only about purchasing drones but also other important matters that we discussed today. We are already prepared for all of this, we are ready to send our experts at any time and we are already doing this. We will do this together with our close partners," the Ukrainian president emphasized.

In addition to the supply of drone technology, the drone agreement provides for the exchange of experience, specialist training and security cooperation. Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine is already engaged in such cooperation with its partners in Europe and is ready to promptly dispatch experts to advance it.

"I cannot provide all the details, but this is one of the solutions," Zelenskyy added.

In recent months, Ukrainian long-range attack drones targeting strategic sites in Russia have repeatedly entered Estonian and Latvian airspace after being diverted from their course, and in Latvia one struck a fuel tank, though without causing major damage. NATO fighter jets participating in the Baltic Air Policing mission have each shot down one stray drone in Estonia and Latvia.

At the press conference, Zelenskyy said Ukraine will continue to respond to all Russian attacks, including through long-range strikes, which he described as "long-range sanctions," and explained the reasoning behind them.

"I understand what Russia is doing — they want to escalate relations within the European Union when we respond to Russian attacks. And if Russian drones are seen in Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia, we understand why that is happening. And if Ukrainian drones appear, we understand what the Russians are trying to do — they can pull our drones off their course by using electronic warfare," he said.

Alar Karis also spoke about cooperation with Ukraine in countering stray drones, noting that Ukraine possesses relevant expertise, which was demonstrated during the recently concluded Spring Storm military exercise.

"The question now is how to move forward from here because we have shown that drones can be brought down with aircraft, but that is a very expensive undertaking. We need to find a way to make use of Ukraine's expertise and bring that technology and those capabilities here so that this can be done," Karis said.

"Although it may be worth saying in advance that, inevitably, as long as the war continues, there will probably be more such incidents and we have to take that into account. At the same time, I would advise our own people to remain calm if some drones stray here until we are once again able to provide full protection," the Estonian president added.

Zelenskyy is visiting Estonia on Tuesday. During the visit, he is meeting President Alar Karis and Prime Minister Kristen Michal and taking part in the summit of the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) cooperation format.

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