Estonia’s Ambassador: We want Ukraine to defeat Russia

NATO is the best security guarantee for Ukraine, says Ambassador Annely Kolk

Estonia’s Ambassador to Ukraine Annely Kolk in 2023

This article was first published in the Euromaidan Press.

***

“Russia has never kept any promises or respected any agreements it signed. It has violated all of them,” Estonian Ambassador to Ukraine Annely Kolk told the Euromaidan Press in an exclusive interview.

Ambassador Kolk candidly states that she doesn’t see a ceasefire possibility at the moment while adding that every time people say that NATO is “dead,” it comes back stronger each time. Read the full interview to understand how Estonia envisions the end of the Russo-Ukraine war and its view of US President Donald Trump’s administration.

Lesia: Estonia is among the most ardent supporters of Ukraine. In 2022, Western leaders praised it for its better understanding of Russia. They promised to listen to you henceforth. Three years into the war, did they?

Ambassador: Estonia has been telling our partners for over 15 years about the challenges of collaborating with Russia, the Nord Stream 1 and 2, etc.

We also saw what happened in Georgia, Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk before the full-scale war finally took place in 2022.

I’m afraid that the partners didn’t listen to us as much as we would have wanted to.

Lesia: But do they now?

Ambassador: Yes. I can confirm that they do now because the full-scale war that started on 24 February 2022 was a shock.

It was a shock for Europe and the West, including the brutality of the Russian forces and the Putin regime.

We all saw what happened in Bucha and other places. Then more info came from the occupied territories, and I believe that everybody understood that Russia is real in its imperialistic wishes and doesn’t want to see a free, independent, democratic Ukraine.

Russia also said many times that it’s a war against the West and NATO, I think now everybody understands it.

Lesia: Yesterday, there was a report by the Financial Times that some European officials, or frankly put, German and Hungarian officials, are still floating the idea that we should go back to business as usual when it comes to buying Russian fossil fuels. How would you respond to that?

Ambassador: There is no possibility for a quick or short response here.

The war has lasted for more than 3 years, and we can see, unfortunately, from some countries in the West and around the world, that there is this sense of urgency to press Ukraine to finish the war. Politics and elections play a role here.

But I think Europe is still united and backing Ukraine. I’m sure the United States is still backing Ukraine and is working together with Europe. Meanwhile, NATO is really ramping up support for Ukraine, so I’m not too concerned about all these developments because of elections in certain countries.

Lesia: You touched upon the US. So, President Donald Trump originally wanted to end the war in 24 hours. It didn’t happen. Now the deadline is 100 days, and Keith Kellogg, the Special Peace Envoy, is slated to travel to Ukraine and probably Russia – or he has already done so. Regardless, what would be your message to the administration in terms of ending the war in 100 days? What’s Estonia’s position on this?

Ambassador: We haven’t seen the proposals or very concrete information from our partners in the US yet.

Yes, we have heard some comments, but of course, our message is that NATO is the best security guarantee for Ukraine. Ukraine should receive an invitation as soon as possible.

We would all like to finish the war tomorrow. We didn’t even want this war to happen in the first place.

Also, Estonia has a strong sense that Russia should be defeated. I’m talking about the Special Tribunal for the culprits, accountability for all the war crimes, reconstruction of Ukraine, and the use of the Russian frozen assets, not only the profits from the assets but the assets themselves, to pay for all these atrocities.

These are all our messages.

Lesia: I know that the Baltic countries were also told in the 1990s that they would never be members of NATO and then it changed at some point. What did it take to shift the minds of those people, who appeared to be quite rigid?

Ambassador: The whole Estonian society really wanted to join NATO. This includes all of our political parties, and we made a lot of reforms, showing our dedication and that we can become a very reliable member of NATO.

I also think that there might have been some calculations that when the Baltics are in NATO, it’d also mean security for Europe.

Still, it was the dedication of the whole Estonian society that mattered the most. We proved to our partners or allies who were hesitant that we were capable of being reliable allies.

Now, we are among the three countries with the biggest NATO expenditure. Also, I believe we had very good allies inside NATO who advocated for the Baltics, saying it is in the interest of Europe’s security for us to be in.

Lesia: You touched upon expenditure, and it is indeed true that Estonia is among the countries that spend a lot of money on NATO. President Trump has been quite vocal about NATO expenditures in general. Is the target of 5% set out by him feasible?

Ambassador: I think it’s feasible. There has been much talk in NATO over the years that countries should increase their defense expenditure. Estonia is one of the countries that have always said that.

I’m not yet sure about the 5% because it’s a huge one. But countries are really starting to discuss at least some increase. In Estonia, we also say that everybody understands that we need to increase defense expenditures. The only question is, where will this money come from?

Lesia: Does ‘everybody’ include countries like Spain, Canada, and some other NATO member states that are not even hitting the 2%?

Ambassador: I cannot speak on behalf of these countries. But I think if one NATO ally is telling everybody that we need to really ramp up our defense expenditure, and if you want to finish the war with Ukraine’s victory, I hope that these countries will also come along.

If Ukraine needs our peacekeeping troops, we can discuss that

Lesia: Regarding a ceasefire. Let’s start with the question of whether you believe it is at all possible, given that Putin does not seem to have different goals these days.

Ambassador: Yes, we can see that Ukraine has always said that it wants to finish the war and is ready to negotiate.

But we see that Putin has no ceasefire plans. He’s increasing attacks on Ukraine, on the energy infrastructure, other infrastructure, and civilian population. The Russian forces are still at the front line. I don’t know right now what this ceasefire would look like.

Lesia: Say that there’s a ceasefire, the peacekeepers are deployed, and there is no NATO membership, but there are some kind of security guarantees akin to a hedgehog model, like in Israel, for example. First, can Ukraine take advantage of that? If so, in what specific ways could Estonia help it take advantage? Perhaps security guarantees could also be a way to prepare for NATO membership?

Ambassador: This is a really difficult question. If a ceasefire takes place, there will be a buffer zone. There will be peacekeeping forces or whatever we call them, and then security guarantees.

Without an invitation to NATO, I don’t really understand the status of such peacekeeping forces.

And do we really believe that Russia keeps its promises? Because Russia has never kept any promises or respected any agreements it signed. It has violated all of them. This is a very difficult question right now.

In Estonia, we are still working toward finishing the war with the Russian forces back to the 1991 borders, and everything I said about the tribunal, the reconstruction, and the like.

Lesia: Notably, you say that Russia breaks all of the agreements because last month, we had a guest who said, “Russia will 100% break any ceasefire.” Is there any agreement at all that it has ever honored?

Ambassador: I’ve worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 25 years and participated in negotiations with Russia so I know what they’re like.

Once we struck this border agreement between Estonia and Russia. They signed it but didn’t even ratify it.

Maybe North Korea or Iran believes that Russia keeps its promises. I have no idea. But I have no illusions.

Lesia: You mentioned the border agreement. There’s a big Russian community in Estonia. Does Russia still have a big influence in Estonia and the Baltic states, especially through it?

Ambassador: I think that this is something that they always try to exploit in one way or another to influence politics.

Lesia: Is it tangible right now, though? Especially given that, for example, in Romania, you have a presidential candidate who’s quite specific in his views. Does Russia still have that kind of influence in the Baltic states?

Ambassador: I wouldn’t say that Russia has a considerable influence in the Baltic states, at least in Estonia.

Yes, we have the Russian minority, but since regaining independence, we have worked really hard to integrate them and to tear them off from the Russian propaganda.

Maybe we were too slow, but we have done a lot since 2014, especially after 2022. We closed the Russian TV channels and created Estonian channels for the Russian audience.

Lesia: So there’s a change. When I talked two years ago to a representative of the Estonian government, he said that a lot of Russians in Estonia still feel very attached to Russia, but not so much when it comes to returning to their homeland.

Ambassador: That’s exactly the way it is. Of course, some Russian people support Putin and his regime, but they still live in Estonia and enjoy the privileges and everything that Estonia offers them.

We had very good relations with Trump because we delivered on our promises

Lesia: You touched upon the US a little earlier, saying you think the US support will continue. I was going to ask you whether you think the transatlantic cooperation is dead. What say you?

Ambassador: I understand what you mean, but even before, some said that NATO is “braindead.” There have been discussions about these relationships and NATO status, but it has always come back to the fact that NATO is stronger than ever, and the European Union is more united than ever. So, I don’t think that we should be afraid that the transatlantic relations will worsen.

The new administration and the new US president just took office. Let’s see what their policies will be, and if need be, of course, we are always ready for dialogue. But I don’t think that the strong relationship between Europe and the US will somehow be dead or even half dead.

They have also seen our development since 1991 and how much we struggled to become a member of the European Union. We are a reliable ally. When we promise something, we always deliver.

So, we didn’t have huge issues or misunderstandings with the Trump administration.

Lesia: Finally, according to Estonia, what would be the ideal scenario for ending the current war? If we were to break it down into components?

Ambassador: Firstly, the whole world is watching how the war in Ukraine ends because we all know that this is an existential question for Europe’s security and democracy.

If one country, which is a member of the United Nations Security Council, is allowed to invade or occupy another country, and agreements are reached that this country can keep these territories and doesn’t have to pay for the damages done, there will be no accountability.

So, the only scenario for how this war could end would be that Russia takes back its forces to the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine, there will be a special tribunal, the accountability for all those war crimes, and, of course, reparations.

I wouldn’t even say that this is “ideal.” It is how it should be in the 21^st century due to all the architecture of human rights, freedoms, and democracy that we have built up.

This is why the United Nations was created.

Lesia: Let’s work toward that.

Ambassador: The European Union is doing its utmost, and I also know that Ukraine is really resilient and is still ready to fight back.

So, I hope that all allies ramp up their support, especially military support, so it can not just hold back the Russian forces but defeat them and push them back from their territories.

And, of course, make Russia accountable.