Estonian foreign ministry spokesman calls negotiations with Russia a “trap” for the West

Estonian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jonatan Vseviov stated that Russia is using peace negotiations over Ukraine as a tool to lure the West into a “trap.”

He outlined his view in a post on the social network X.

According to Vseviov’s assessment, Russian authorities proceed from the assumption that “time is on their side” and expect that “sooner or later” the West will offer at the negotiating table what Moscow “was unable to achieve on the battlefield.” This is precisely what the Estonian diplomat sees as the essence of the “trap.”

“The Kremlin is escalating tensions with NATO in a last-ditch attempt to lure the West into a trap of negotiations, to split it on the question of support for Ukraine, and to distract us from our course. We see this strategy for what it is. And our message remains unchanged: the only way to end the suffering is simple — stop the aggression, withdraw troops behind Russia’s internationally recognized borders, and stay there,” Vseviov wrote.

On May 29, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas stated that the EU will not be an impartial mediator in resolving the Ukrainian crisis and will continue to support Kyiv. She also emphasized that the EU intends to demand that Russia limit its armed forces and withdraw troops from Transnistria, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia.

On the same day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the EU’s refusal to engage in dialogue with Moscow “the greatest stupidity.” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Dmitry Lubinsky, for his part, stated that European countries in the conflict in Ukraine are “pushing their own line,” which “has little to do with political and military realities.” Russian President Vladimir Putin also spoke on May 29, indicating that the EU should choose its own negotiator with Moscow.

Earlier, Germany had considered Kallas’s statement about negotiations with Russia a sign of a split within the EU.