"There is no doubt that U.S. policies will change both domestically and internationally," Saks told Vikerradio's "Uudis+" program on Wednesday. "He [Trump] is definitely trying to show that he is drastically different."

Trump's views on foreign policy lack substance, he said.

"During his campaign, he was quite terse; it was mostly slogans that he presented, and he has generally not elaborated on the content of these slogans," said Saks. "From the U.S. perspective, it is clear that the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine — both critical for the U.S. — are compounded by significant destabilization concerning the North Korea issue."

Saks also highlighted that many things had been on hold until the results of the election were known: "This does not leave a good impression of the U.S. I believe President Trump's first task will be to restore the decisiveness and credibility of the U.S. so that its deterrence capabilities can once again be effective."

A lot also depends on Trump's team. Saks said it is not known who could be secretary of state or defense secretary.

"Concerning the Middle East, Ukraine, and Korea, the issue is not only about what the challenges are but also significantly about how these issues will be addressed. The approach and style in dealing with them will be exceptionally important for the future of the U.S.," he told the show.

Ukraine not received promised aid

During his last term, Trump was critical of NATO members who failed to meet NATO's 2 percent spending goal.

Saks said this policy is unlikely to change, and many European countries, including Estonia, want to push it higher.

Countries that have failed to allocate 2 percent may not have such a good relationship with Trump, he added.

While Ukraine was seen as a personal issue for President Joe Biden, support has been lacking, Saks said.

"I'm not talking about authorizing missile attacks on targets farther away from Russia, nor about delivering aid to Ukraine in the volumes promised. Things have dragged on, it has caused Ukraine a lot of problems. I do not want to say that they are not supportive at all, but it has been very slow, clumsy, and most importantly here, the U.S. has failed to build an international coalition that works effectively and globally to put pressure on Russia to stop this belligerence and to retreat behind Ukraine's borders," said Saks.  

The security expert said, initially, nothing has changed and Trump has not stated any explicit intentions.

"Certainly Russia will not do anything to build relations with the U.S. or move towards peace until a new president is in office," he said. Trump will take office in January.

Russia cooperates with North Korea and Iran. Saks said it can be considered a failure of the outgoing U.S. president that this cooperation has not been stopped.

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