India has leverage to pressure Russia to end Ukraine war: Estonian FM

Any pressure on Russia to change its position and goals would be welcome as Ukraine and Europe want peace, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus said.

Tallinn: India has leverage to put pressure on Russia to end the Ukraine conflict and can play a “big role” in efforts to bring peace, though ultimately Russian President Vladimir Putin has to stop the “atrocities”, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has said.

Tsahkna also said Estonia is organising the Ukraine recovery conference in 2027 and expressed hope that India could also be a part of the rebuilding process of the war-hit country.

On whether India can play a role in bringing peace in the region, the minister, in an interview with PTI, said Russia has been waging an aggressive war against Ukraine for more than four years and noted that “India has leverage on putting more pressure or talk to Russia” to end the conflict.

"But honestly, the only person who can finish this war right now is President Vladimir Putin. For Europe and Estonia, Russia is a very direct threat. We don't want any wars in Europe, but unfortunately, we have (the war)," he said.

Any pressure on Russia to change its position and goals would be welcome as Ukraine and Europe want peace, Tsahkna said.

Referring to the Ukraine Recovery Conference, he said the event would bring together world leaders, donors and private companies.

Asserting that the reconstruction of Ukraine will be the biggest project in Europe since the Marshall Plan after World War II, he said, "I hope India will be part of that." The Marshall Plan was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The US transferred USD 13.3 billion to 17 European countries in economic recovery programmes after the end of World War II in Europe.

While speaking with a group of visiting Indian journalists here, Tsahkna claimed that Russia is in a “shaky position” in its war against Ukraine, and its economy has weakened due to sanctions imposed on Moscow.

“For us, Russia was, is and will remain the main security threat because we see that President Vladimir Putin started the wars in Europe in 2008 against Georgia, and the response was very weak from the western part of the world and globally, so 20 per cent of Georgia is still occupied,” he said.

“Putin took on the next country in 2014 – Ukraine," the minister said.

The Russian aggression against Ukraine began in 2014 with the occupation of Crimea and not in 2022 as widely perceived, he explained.

Tsahkna said Putin made a "huge miscalculation" in 2022.

"He was sure that he would take down the Ukrainian government within six days and also put Ukraine under his control, but he has been waging this full-scale war for four years with all these atrocities," he said.

"We are very like-minded with Ukrainians, not only for geopolitical reasons, but also we don't want to have any wars in Europe, but we have,” the minister added.

"We are all affected we know exactly how to talk to Russia, we know that we must be very clear where the red lines are, what the miscalculations will be,” he said.

Tsahkna acknowledged that the situation may be different from an Indian perspective because India historically has had different relations with Russia, and also as it is a large country with different interests.

The Estonian foreign minister said Europe now sees Russia as an "immediate military and political threat".

It is not about Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania or Poland, but it is about the European security architecture, he said.

Tsahkna said India and Estonia shared the principle of territorial integrity and support for the UN Charter.

“What we share with India is the territorial integrity principle, and more and more we talk about the UN charter. Both India and Estonia have been very clear about that,” he said.

Claiming that Russia's economy had weakened due to sanctions, Tsahkna said recent deep strikes inside Russia have also caused damage.

"We need to have peace and negotiate with Russia. Putin is not ready to have real negotiations. Putin should change the strategic goals, and maybe, led by Ukraine, we can have some kind of real negotiations, just to begin with a ceasefire," Tsahkna said.

He said India can play a “big role” in that regard through its economic ties with Russia.

Russia and Ukraine have stepped up long-range drone and missile attacks in recent months, even as diplomatic efforts to find a negotiated settlement to the conflict continue.