The prolonged war in Ukraine has forced Europe to wake up to the threat that Russia poses, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told The Kyiv Independent. He pointed to a “change of mentality,” a realisation that Russia is an aggressive country and will remain a threat, and that Europe can actually fight back. Nevertheless, too many countries still think that a rapid ceasefire in Ukraine will bring back “business as usual,” Tsahkna said. “It will not,” he warned. Any peace in Ukraine must be “just and long-lasting,” and such a peace can only be made on the battlefield, Tsahkna insisted. Russia’s goal of erasing Ukraine’s statehood has not changed. In this situation, “you cannot weaken your position by talking about peace,” Tsahkna argued. Peace without security guarantees is not peace, he said. NATO membership is “the most secure, most clear, most efficient, and cheapest way” to provide real security guarantees. Any other structure is much more complicated, Tsahkna stressed. “Ukrainians are fighting not only for themselves and for us, but instead of us,” he noted.
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