Tallinn. December 23. INTERFAX - Estonian President Alar Karis believes that discussing Russia's demands for security guarantees is out of the question.
"It's simple with the requirements of Russia. They just need to be put aside and come forward with their thoughts. If we start discussing them one by one, then I think we will have a problem. In the end, relations with Russia will someday have to enter into some reasonable framework. No one wants escalation. But I think there is no question of discussing these points," the head of state said on Thursday in a New Year's Eve interview with Estonian television.
According to him, very strong signals have been coming from Russia almost every day lately. "This is not a long list of wishes, but downright commands. The only weapon against this is that Western countries, especially NATO countries, are united in this regard, and this information will reach all sides as soon as possible," the president said.
He urged not to be afraid of Russia, but to deal with its containment.
"Fear is a very strong feeling. I don't think anyone should be afraid, you just need to deal with deterrence. We must keep pace with our allies and not allow ourselves to be split, which, of course, is one of the goals of today's Russia - to quarrel us among themselves, West-East, North-South, to quarrel with the United States. Start negotiating one by one, and suddenly someone will actually start negotiating. Nothing should happen without the states whose decisions are being made," Karis stressed.
He called the proposal of US President Joe Biden to hold a meeting of large NATO states with Russia "frightening".
"Biden's solo, when he agreed to a meeting of large NATO states and Russia, which, as far as I understand, will not happen, was quite frightening. This raised the question of how much we can trust our allies," the Estonian president said.
According to Karis, "it was not a malicious, but an ill-considered decision."
