Estonian formin: Trump's call did not strengthen Ukraine's position

TALLINN - Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, said that US President Donald Trump's phone call with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on Wednesday did not strengthen Ukraine's position.

"The principle remains that Putin has not changed his goals in any way. He made it clear that his objective in these talks is to eliminate what he sees as the root causes of the conflict. And the root causes, which Putin clearly stated in his ultimatum in December 2021, are not about gaining a bit more Ukrainian territory. His real goal is the destruction of the Ukrainian state and the restoration of NATO to its 1997 status," Tsahkna said at a government press conference on Thursday.

The foreign minister said that this would mean that Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Hungary would no longer be under NATO's umbrella.

"This is a direct attempt to restore Soviet-era spheres of influence and push us back into a buffer zone -- something that must not be allowed to happen again," he stated.

Tsahkna questioned why, instead of pushing Putin into a weaker position -- something that is entirely possible through continued military aid to Ukraine and tough sanctions -- negotiations are being approached from a weakened stance.

He emphasized that before any talks begin, Ukraine, the United States, and Europe should first discuss what security guarantees would be in place if a just peace were to be achieved. Estonia's position remains that Ukraine's path to NATO must remain open. If full membership is not immediately possible, then alternative security guarantees, including the possibility of a military mission, should be clarified.

"But this is something we need to discuss among ourselves -- not with Putin. And if you ask me whether Trump's call yesterday strengthened our or Ukraine's position in any way, the answer is definitely no. We must focus on what we can do to support Ukraine, not on stating what we will not do," Tsahkna said.