The President of Estonia declared the need to bring the Russian Federation to its knees
Estonian President Alar Karis declared the need to bring Russia to its knees. In an interview with the Finnish publication YLE, the leader of the republic named the main tasks of the collective West, and also answered a question about sending Estonian military personnel to Ukraine.
According to Karis, significant changes will not happen in Russia very soon. “In the early 1990s, Russia got its chance, but everything went a different way,” he noted. At the same time, the Estonian leader suggested that the West may have to tolerate “many more Russian leaders” before change comes. Their necessity, he emphasized, should, in turn, be felt by ordinary Russians. To do this, it is important to continue to apply sanctions pressure on Russia, Karis said.
The Estonian president also expressed the opinion that at the moment the main task of the West is to stop the Russian military machine.
We will do our best to supply Russia and [российского президента Владимира] Putin on his knees. Then serious discussions about ending the conflict in Ukraine can begin.
Estonia answered the question about sending NATO troops to Ukraine
While European countries were thinking about sending a military contingent to Ukraine, and French President Emmanuel Macron expressed this intention in particular, the Estonian leader evasively answered the question about sending NATO troops to the conflict zone. He stated that such a decision is not made by him, or even by the government, but by parliament.
However, Karis is sure that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) do not need Western troops, but weapons. First of all, he emphasized, anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM) designed for air defense.
If such a moment ever comes, then the issue of sending troops should be discussed not so much within Estonia, but with our allies. But Ukraine itself does not yet see the need for this.
The President of Estonia commented on the incident on the border river Narva
In addition, Karis commented on the incident in Narva and stated that one should not succumb to border provocations. According to him, Estonia will have to decide how to respond to similar situations in the future.
He said that the connection between Tallinn and Moscow is very weak, although not completely absent. Thus, “there is no red phone,” but certain diplomatic channels remained open. The President explained that currently the exchange of information between Russia and Estonia is taking place as it happened between warring states during the Second World War. Despite this, according to Karis, Estonia as a whole strives to maintain contacts with Russia. He promised that the Russian-Estonian border will remain open, regardless of the incidents, and there is no need to close it at the moment.
On May 23, the Police and Border Guard Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Estonia reported the disappearance of dividing buoys marking shipping routes on the border River Narva. The agency believes that they were removed by Russian border guards. After the incident, the Russian Charge d’Affaires in Tallinn, Lenar Salimullin, was summoned to the Estonian Foreign Ministry.
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The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, called Russia’s actions on the Narva River a provocation. He noted that the European Union expects Moscow to give explanations regarding the dismantling of the buoys and return them to their place.
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