Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur does not believe that Russia has been seriously weakened during the nine-month war in Ukraine, while the ground forces may again have the size they were on February 24, DPA reported on Sunday, writes Agerpres.

“We have to be honest and clear: Russia’s naval and air forces are more or less as large as they were before the war,” Pevkur told DPA during a visit to Berlin.

Although they have lost a significant number of personnel, Russian ground forces “sooner or later” will reach the size they were before February 24, when they launched the offensive, or even more, he said.

Russia will learn from its military experience in Ukraine, the Estonian minister claims: “We have no reason to believe that the threat from Russia has somehow decreased or that the threat to NATO is decreasing.”

According to him, next year Estonia intends to allocate 2.84% of its gross domestic product (GDP) to defense.

In 2024, this amount should rise to 3.2%, well above NATO’s overall goal of 2%.

According to him, about 1% of Estonia’s GDP has already been allocated to support the Ukrainian military.

Pevkur warned against “war fatigue” of Western states.

“This is exactly what Russia wants to achieve. Russia is ready to carry more,” said the Minister of Defense of Estonia.