Main image: Estonian President Alar Karis. Photo: Rain Kooli / Yle
Europe made a mistake in the spring of 2022 and lost the best opportunity for peace negotiations.
This opinion was expressed in an interview with the Finnish broadcaster Yle by Estonian President Alar Karis.
Karis stated that relations with Russia will remain difficult for a long time, even if the war in Ukraine ends. In his view, the most important thing is that Russia must change.
“Nazi Germany was an aggressor state. After World War II, when its leadership was punished, Germany changed. Less than 10 years later it was in NATO and the European Union,” the Estonian president recalled.
However, Russia’s military machine is still operating in a war of attrition. According to Karis, Europe made a mistake in spring 2022 and missed the best opportunity for negotiations.
“When Russian forces were pushed back from the outskirts of Kyiv fairly close to Russian territory, Europe would have had an opportunity to bring the aggressor to the negotiating table. Now no one is sitting at the negotiating table,” the Estonian president said.
He believes Europe needs a plan regarding Russia, both for peace negotiations and for the post-war period. The development of such a plan should begin now.
“The EU has invested a lot of money in Ukraine. It cannot be that when the time comes, the United States, Russia, and possibly a third country sit at the negotiating table, and Europe is not there at all. We must have ideas and plans on how to interact with Russia. We must start developing these plans now, because processes in the EU take a long time,” the Estonian president concluded.
As of April, peace negotiations have not been completely halted, but they have significantly slowed down due to the escalation around Iran. Part of the international attention, including from the United States and other key partners, has shifted to the Middle East, which makes it more difficult to hold full-scale political meetings and make high-level decisions. At the same time, technical contacts and preparatory diplomatic work continue, and Ukraine states its readiness for negotiations at any time.
