Zelenskyy’s team brought a “drone deal” to Tallinn, but Estonia left it unsigned, while Latvia made a major long-term commitment to Ukraine and Lithuania had already signed in May. The reasons for Estonia’s hesitation may include legal caution, defense-budget priorities, and the country’s own growing counter-drone industry.
The team of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had just visited Estonia, brought with them a draft agreement for what has been referred to as the “drone deal.” Estonia did not sign it in Tallinn, while Zelenskyy and the Lithuanian president had already signed it in Bucharest on May 13.
Latvia’s new prime minister, Andris Kulbergs, signed the drone deal in Tallinn, committing Latvia to a long-term defense cooperation framework with Ukraine. According to the Latvian Ministry of Defense, the agreement envisages comprehensive cooperation over the next ten years, with specific forms and volumes of support to be decided separately each year. Latvia intends to allocate approximately €110 million during the first two years of the agreement, while any budgetary commitments will require explicit approval by the Latvian government and, where necessary, the Saeima.
The Five Percent Clause
Presumably, part of this will involve the procurement from Ukraine of drone defense, surveillance, and related command-and-control systems, as well as cooperation between companies in this field. Five percent of the defense budget amounts to at least 110 million euros per year.
On May 13, 2026, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda signed a bilateral defense cooperation agreement in the Drone Deal framework during the B9 Bucharest Summit at Cotroceni Palace in Romania. Photo: President Of Ukraine Office/ZUMAPRESS.com
The cooperation agreement referred to as the “drone deal” is in fact a broader defense cooperation document, although unmanned systems are mentioned separately in the text as a short-term cooperation priority. Estonia and the other Baltic states have previously shown interest in importing drone defense equipment from Ukraine. The Latvian Ministry of Defense’s official explanation confirms that Ukraine has authorized the export of military products.