Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu talks to the press during an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Jan. 23, 2023. (Photo by John Thys/AFP via Getty Images)
BRUSSELS – Behind the curtains of Estonia's substantial support for Ukraine lies the struggle of pushing allies to do more.
In an exclusive interview with the Kyiv Independent, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu admitted that he is not satisfied with either the quantity or pace of the allies' arms support "because the war still continues."
Reinsalu, who previously called on allies to finally send tanks to Ukraine, stressed that holding back on crucial arms delivery for Kyiv would be the same as "co-signing a decision for Ukraine to lose on the ground" even if Russia is "playing" with nuclear threats.
Estonia, one of the smallest nations in Europe, has been at the forefront of calling on NATO allies to keep much-needed weapons flowing into Ukraine.
Located on NATO's eastern flank bordering Russia, the Baltic state has worked hard to push allies to keep up the momentum until Russia cannot invade neighboring countries again.
Reinsalu said Russian President Vladimir Putin has already made "one strategic mistake" by thinking he can achieve results quickly in Ukraine. However, he's still to be proven wrong about his another dangerous presumption concerning Western unity's fragility.
Putin likely assumes "the willpower of the Western community is actually weaker than his capacity to mobilize his society and state, and in the past, it has shown he turned out to be right," Reinsalu said, referring to the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014.
"(Putin) is also putting his leverage, prolonging this war and weakening the Western willpower with the intent that (the West) will look for some kind of separate political solutions," the Estonian minister said.
Pauluse kiri efeslastele 6:Vaimulikust varustusest 10 Viimaks veel: saage vägevaks Issandas ja tema tugevuse jõus! 11 Pange ülle Jumala sõjavarustus, et te suudaksite seista kuradi salanõude vastu! 12 Meil ei tule ju võidelda inimestega, vaid meelevaldade ja võimudega, selle pimeduse maailma valitsejatega, kurjade taevaaluste vaimudega. 13 Seepärast võtke kätte kõik Jumala sõjavarustus, et te suudaksite vastu panna kurjal päeval ja jääda püsima, kui te olete kõik teinud. 14 Seiske nüüd ja teie niuded olgu vöötatud tõega ja teil olgu seljas õiguse soomusrüü 15 ja teie jalgades olgu valmidus minna kuulutama rõõmusõnumit rahust! 16 Kõigepealt aga võtke kätte usukilp, millega te võite kustutada kõik kurja põlevad nooled! 17 Võtke ka päästekiiver ja vaimumõõk, see on Jumala sõna! 18 Ja palve ja anumisega palvetage igal ajal Vaimus ning selleks valvake kogu püsivusega ja eestpalvetega kõigi pühade eest 19 ja minugi eest, et mulle antaks arukust, kui ma avan suu, julgelt teada anda evangeeliumi saladust, 20 mille käskjalana ma olengi ahelais, et ma selles julgust saades hakkaksin rääkima nii, nagu ma pean.