Estonian PM Calls on US to Support ‘Peace Strategy’ in Ukraine

An assault unit commander from the 3rd Assault Brigade runs to his position at the frontline in Andriivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Sept. 16, 2023. Alex Babenko/AP Photo

WASHINGTON—Continued U.S. support for Ukraine is required to create a just and lasting peace in Europe and to halt Russian colonialism, according to one senior European official.

Allowing Russia to succeed in any part of its attempted conquest of Ukraine would fracture European security in the long term and threaten liberty everywhere, said Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.

“Everyone understands that war is bad and peace is good, but the peace has to be sustainable,” Ms. Kallas said during a Nov. 14 defense summit hosted by Politico.

“If [President Vladimir] Putin prevails, then we’re going to wake up in a much, much more dangerous world… and we are going to see more aggression if we don’t act in a strong way,” she said.

To that end, Ms. Kallas called on U.S. leadership to help craft and implement a “peace strategy” that would ensure European safety from continued Russian aggression.

“What we want to have is a stable peace,” Ms. Kallas said. “Of course, American support for that is fundamental.”

The comments come as Ms. Kallas meets with U.S. leaders in Congress to discuss reservations that some Republicans have about continuing to fund Ukraine’s defense against Russian conquest.

She concluded a “very good meeting” with congressional leaders, she said, and was able to constructively speak with “very skeptical voices regarding support for Ukraine.”

“It seems to me that we are still getting through our ideas… We all want peace,” Ms. Kallas said.

The efforts to maintain clear communications with Congress come as some House Republicans attempt to block or otherwise limit the Biden administration’s efforts to provide security assistance to Ukraine.

Ms. Kallas said she believed that one reason for the congressional skepticism was that those who were skeptical had never actually lived without liberty, and did not understand what it would mean for Europeans to lose it again.

“I was born under Soviet occupation. We didn’t have any choices. We didn’t have any freedom,” Ms. Kallas said.

“[They] didn’t experience living without it.”

Estonia and the other Baltic States, Latvia and Lithuania, were forcibly annexed into the Soviet Union in 1940. They regained their independence in 1991, and all three became NATO members in 2004.

Ukrainian Victory Possible, but Distant

When asked if she believed that Ukraine could regain momentum in its flagging counteroffensive and achieve victory against Russia, Ms. Kallas answered simply and affirmatively.

“Absolutely, I do believe it,“ she said. ”They have liberated 50 percent of their territories that were conquered…”

With that being said, the Estonian leader acknowledged that such victory would take more than a year and, possibly, many years.

“It’s not months,” Ms. Kallas said.

The comments echo recent remarks made by Czech National Security Adviser Tomas Pojar, who said that international funding for Ukraine may be required for another decade in order to prevent Russia from expanding its aggression into more of Europe.

“We have to really have it long term, and I think that the flow of weapons to Ukraine has to be there for 10 more years,” Mr. Pojar told reporters in Washington last month.

“I’m not saying that there will be fighting for 10 more years, but in order to keep Russia as far as possible from our borders, then this will have to be sustained.”

Ms. Kallas said that it was “very important” to “continue supporting Ukraine” in order to ensure European stability and stop “Russia’s last colonial war.”