The parliamentary heads of the Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on Friday appealed to the US Congress to approve a stalled aid package for Ukraine as it fends off Russian attacks for the third year.
"Europe is taking historic steps to strengthen its defence capabilities, but this inevitably takes time – time that Ukraine
does not have," the signatories wrote in a joint letter to Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson.
"That is why US aid is indispensable at this crucial juncture before Europe's ability to defend itself has come into its own and we do even more to help Ukraine," they wrote to the Republican lawmaker.
Congress is expected to vote on the long-delayed $61 billion aid package for Kiev on Saturday.
In the joint letter, the chairman of Estonia's legislature, Lauri Hussar, and his colleagues Daiga Mieriņa of Latvia and Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen of Lithuania expressed hopes that the urgently needed aid would be approved.
"Supporting Ukraine is an investment in our collective secure future," emphasized the parliament heads of the three EU and NATO states bordering Russia. All are former Soviet republics.
The chairmen of the foreign affairs committees of the three parliaments also appealed for support during a visit to the US.
At several planned meetings with members of the US Congress, they intended to press for the adoption of the Ukraine aid package, the Estonian parliament said.