TALLINN - At a meeting with Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, and Polish President Karol Nawrocki on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly week in New York on Tuesday, Estonian President Alar Karis stressed that air defense on NATO's eastern flank must be a priority. "The strengthening of the eastern flank is not only a military consideration, but also has political and deterrent dimensions -- it reassures allies and shows adversaries that NATO's collective defense works," Karis said. On support for Ukraine, the Estonian head of state stressed that in addition to defense aid, a clear perspective of European Union membership must be offered. This shows that air defense must be a NATO priority across the entire eastern flank," Karis said. "To keep Russia away from our borders, air policing must be strengthened, and more than that, air defense must be reinforced," the Estonian head of state added.