Estonian foreign minister Tsahkna: Europe will not mediate between Russia and Ukraine

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has stated that Europe cannot and will not act as a mediator in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, as doing so would require a neutral position.

He made the remarks to the outlet ERR.

According to Tsahkna, Russia is allegedly trying to draw Europe into the negotiations specifically in the role of mediator — including in order to avoid sanctions, and in particular a complete ban on maritime transport across EU territory, which the minister called “a painful thing.” However, Europe will not agree to such mediation, he stressed.

“The role of mediator means a neutral position in order to find a compromise between Ukraine and Russia. That is absolutely not our goal. Our goal is to formulate, and one day, if any negotiations take place, to defend what the European security architecture will look like, in which Ukraine will certainly have a very large role. What the security guarantees will be — not only for Ukraine, but also from Ukraine for us,” Tsahkna said.

The minister also indicated that future negotiations must address the “reconstruction process” of Ukraine and “Russia’s responsibility.” In his view, Europeans now need to “maintain a strategic and patient pause,” apply “greater pressure” on Russia, and “bring” Moscow “to serious negotiations.”

Tsahkna drew a parallel with the role of U.S. President Donald Trump, noting that mediation at some point turned into pressure on Ukraine.

“This cannot be done while acting as a mediator who must be neutral, as we saw in some sense in the case of Trump, although at some point everyone lost their composure, because the role of mediator turned more into pressure on Ukraine,” the Estonian foreign minister said.

In addition, Tsahkna emphasized that it would be difficult to find anyone in Europe who could speak on behalf of all countries and achieve universal recognition.

On May 18, Politico reported that former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi could be candidates for the role of EU negotiator with Russia. Merkel has already declined to serve as a mediator in the negotiations. Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat subsequently reported that the EU is considering Stubb for the role. Stubb himself stated that he is ready to represent the European Union in the negotiations.