Putin hasn’t changed his position after talks with Trump and wants war, pressure must be increased, - Estonian Defence Minister Pevkur
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is planning to continue the war in Ukraine, despite his statements about his readiness for peace.
This was stated by the head of the Estonian defence ministry, Hanno Pevkur, before the EU Council of Foreign Affairs and Defence Ministers, Censor.NET reports citing Ukrinform.
"As for the phone call between Trump and Putin, it is important to understand that Putin has never changed his position. This is a key understanding. He has repeated it many times, and we see that Russia does not really want to end the war. They are still on the same path, they want to take at least four regions plus Crimea, and they will not stop," he said.
Pevkur also pointed out that even just before the conversation between Trump and Putin, Russia has launched a large-scale Shahed attack on Ukraine, launching about 200 drones. And at the same time, the Kremlin says it is ready for peace talks.
In addition, the Estonian minister stressed that "it is important to show that regardless of what Putin does, we will help Ukraine".
"We will also strengthen our support for Ukraine, in particular in terms of European regulations, we can do more to give Ukraine a better position during these peace talks," he said.
According to Pevkur, Europe has "different options to do this, to help Ukraine more". And the issue of increasing this support will be one of the main issues at today's meeting in Brussels.
The Estonian defence minister also stressed the importance of new restrictive measures against Russia, especially in terms of sanctioning Russia's "shadow fleet" and the Russian banking system.
At the same time, according to Pevkur, who met with congressmen in Washington a week ago, the US side is also ready to continue to increase sanctions pressure on Russia.
