Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna disagreed with the statement of the country's President Alar Karis that Europe should eventually start a dialogue with russia after the war in Ukraine. According to the Foreign Minister, the President's position contradicts Estonia's foreign policy.
This is reported by ERR.
Thus, the Estonian President expressed his views during an official visit to Finland. Both he and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who received Karis, stated that Europe should eventually start a dialogue with russia after the war in Ukraine and learn from the mistakes made at the beginning of the russian invasion of Ukraine.
Several leading Estonian politicians disagree with this. In particular, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna stated that the President's position contradicts Estonia's foreign policy.
"Alar Karis's desire to enter into a dialogue with russia contradicts the entire European and Estonian foreign policy and, on the contrary, will give putin the opportunity to put forward his demands, conditions and ultimatums. And regarding the idea that a truce should have been concluded after February 2022, I will remind Alar Karis that at that time putin put forward ultimatums regarding the sovereignty and territory of Ukraine, as well as regarding our own guarantees of freedom and security in the context of NATO," Tsahkna said.
A similar position was taken not only by coalition politicians, but also by opposition leaders. The head of the opposition party "Isamaa" Urmas Reinsalu noted that russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine is not Europe's fault.
"If we specifically consider the question of whether Europe could somehow achieve a cessation of hostilities in the spring of 2022, then I do not share this opinion. We can recall that bilateral negotiations did take place between Ukraine and russia. But they broke down when Ukraine regained control over the territory, in particular over Bucha. In fact, the focus is on the aggressor, who to this day shows no intention of abandoning his military and strategic goals," Reinsalu said.
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