Vladimir Putin is not serious about ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview.
"Putin has just used Trump to win more time and put more pressure on Ukraine," Tsahkna said.
Trump’s efforts to end the war are well intentioned, Tsahkna said, but right now "we just need to support Ukraine with more pressure on Russia."
Estonia, one of six NATO countries to share a land border with Russia, is one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters within the alliance.
"We don’t see that Putin is ready to have any kind of next step for peace," Tsahkna said. "Of course, we all would like to have it."
The criticism of the White House-led peace efforts comes as Putin has intensified attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.
"As Russia is escalating the killing of civilians – there have been more attacks overnight and into the day with drones and ballistic missiles – pressure on Moscow must be strengthened," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in a social media post on Sept. 22.
Trump administration’s many visits to Russia
White House special envoy Steve Witkoff has met with Putin at least eight times during the second Trump administration. His most recent visits have included Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, but the meetings with Putin have yet to yield a breakthrough in the peace negotiations.
"We’re working very closely with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine and we will get that one done," Trump said in his speech at the U.N. on Sept. 22. "It’s gonna happen, I think, more quickly than people understand."
Witkoff and Kushner made their latest trip to Moscow on Sept. 5. A day later, they visited Kyiv for the first time to meet with Zelenskyy. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed that he would end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has now lasted for nearly five years.
Trump also boasted of his efforts to end global conflicts in his remarks to world leaders.
"While others have spoken of peace, I have made peace," he said. "While others have ignored threats, I have confronted them."
After his speech, Trump is set to meet with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the United Nations. A day later, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who is leading the Russian delegation to the U.N.
Trump has not met with Putin since their summit in Anchorage, Alaska last year.
Tsahkna also sharply criticized Trump over his past comments that blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure as the reason for record-high oil prices.
"This is not correct," he said. "Putin started this war. Putin can stop it."
Trump had previously called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop strikes on Russian oil targets, blaming him for the rising diesel prices around the world.
"Mr. Zelenskyy has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel," Trump told reporters during a visit to Ireland earlier this month. "Let them go after targets but not diesel fuel, because he’s causing a shortage of diesel."
The Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries have reduced Russia’s fuel production and hurt the country’s economy, but energy experts have blamed the rising diesel costs on global shortages caused by both the war in Ukraine and the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
During Trump’s speech at the U.N., Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine had hit two Russian oil refineries over the past 24 hours. "We are taking the war back to where it came from," he said. "We are bringing peace closer for Ukraine."
