Tsahkna attended the 3+1 meeting of Baltic and Canadian foreign ministers in Riga yesterday.

Asked by a journalist if there are concerns about Trump's second term and his attitude toward Ukraine, NATO, and the EU, Tsahkna highlighted his experience with the previous administration.

"I was defense minister at the time when Trump first time entered the White House. And I remember lots of speculations before that, [about] what will happen and not happen," he told the assembled media.

"And I can say that our region gained more security than ever before from [the] U.S. side – boots on the ground, military support, financial support. And I can say in the name of the Estonian government, that we are not changing anything because we are working together with [the] U.S. This transatlantic bond [with Europe] is very strong."

However, Tsahkna stressed the security situation is changing and compared it to 1938 – the year before the Second World War started.

He said the situation is bigger than Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine: "This is the question about what will happen in the world, what will be the rules in the future. Whether we are going to protect the democratic rules and international law. And the U.S. definitely plays here a leading role."

The minister reiterated that President Trump has an opportunity to "become the [Winston] Churchill of our times." Tsahkna has previously said Trump could stop appeasement – a comparison with 1938 – and "instead act with the strength & courage of Churchill."

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly stressed the differences in geopolitics between Trump's first and second terms: "There is a clear connection between what is happening in the Indo-Pacific, and the tensions between the U.S. and China, and ultimately what is happening in Europe. I think this is something that the Trump administration is much more attuned to and we need to continue to engage with them."

Estonian ministers and officials repeatedly said they were prepared to work with whichever party won the U.S. election. Additionally, U.S. forces are already stationed in Estonia.

Trump has said he will end the war in Ukraine in "one day," and criticized NATO members who do not meet the 2 percent of GDP defense spending target.

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania all spend over 3 percent of GDP on defense.

Trump is due to take office in January 2025.

Watch the press conference below.

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