Europe has leverage to pressure Russia in talks, Estonia’s Foreign Minister
Photo: Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna (Getty Images)
Europe has strong negotiating positions to prevent a bad deal for Ukraine. Donald Trump must not be allowed to rewrite history, Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna says in an interview with RND.
"If Europe and Ukraine are united, and Ukrainians are strong enough to reject a bad deal, the United States will have to agree with Europe's stance at the negotiation table. This war is already in Europe, and we can end it only together," Tsahkna said.
According to Estonia’s Foreign Minister, Europeans have many ways to exert pressure on Russia in the negotiations.
"They want to return €220 billion in frozen assets and lift sanctions from the Russian economy. Both of these are in our hands, not in the Americans' hands," Tsahkna added.
The Minister noted that Europe is currently in a very strong position, but this position needs to be defended.
"Putin is sticking to his main war objective. For Russia, this war is not just about seizing territory in Ukraine, but about changing the entire European security architecture. Putin wants to end NATO's presence in the region, but this is fundamental to our security. Therefore, we cannot allow a bad deal to be made without strong influence from Europe and Ukraine. This is unacceptable. We must make Ukraine strong enough to decide whether to accept the deal or not," Tsahkna explained.
Estonia’s Foreign Minister agreed that US President Donald Trump is rehabilitating Putin.
"Of course, that is what it looks like now. Trump seems to take Putin's crimes in Ukraine lightly. We must not allow Trump to rewrite history in pursuit of a quick deal. Unfortunately, we see that negotiations are already ongoing, and soon, there will be negotiations between the two presidents on equal terms."
According to him, the United States does not consider Russia the aggressive party.
"We must exert economic pressure and sanctions on Russia to ensure that Moscow does not have a better position at the negotiating table. If Russia, and then the United States, want to talk about Europe and Ukraine, making decisions without our agreement is impossible," the Minister believes.
According to a survey by the Sociological Group Rating conducted on February 20-21, an overwhelming majority of respondents (83%) believe that Ukraine should agree to a ceasefire only if security guarantees are provided. The survey also found that 91% of respondents oppose US-Russia negotiations about ending the war without Ukraine's involvement.
