Estonian president calls on Europe to stop all trade with Russia
President Alar Karis has called on EU member states to halt energy imports from Russia and to consider imposing a full trade embargo on the aggressor state.
"We should seriously consider a full trade embargo on Russia," Karis said on Sunday during a meeting in Vilnius with the President of the European Commission and his counterparts from Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. The meeting marked the disconnection of the Baltic states' electricity networks from the Russian system and their synchronization with the European frequency area.
"Russia is an unreliable aggressor country and will most likely stay as such for the foreseeable future," Karis said. "The Estonian, and I dare say the Baltic, experience so far has been that the more we cut our dependency from Russia the better for our security and sovereignty."
The president urged all European countries to continue increasing their independence and to fully halt Russian energy imports into the EU. But there is more to be done.
"Unfortunately the EU still buys LNG from Russia, and Russia's shadow fleet continues to cause problems in the Baltic Sea. And, of course, Russia's sabotage campaign against us is still ongoing," Karis said.
— Gitanas Nausėda (@GitanasNauseda) February 9, 2025
"Therefore, I call on all the European countries to continue to further increase our independence [from Russia]. I strongly support the goal to stop all Russian energy imports to the EU. Moreover, we should even seriously consider a full trade embargo on Russia, as these are revenues that keep Russia's shadow fleet at sea and what keeps Russia's war machine going."
The Estonian head of state noted that in recent years, the European Union has generally been successful in reducing its energy dependence on Russia.
"Of course, we have to continue to improve, strengthen and avoid circumvention of European sanctions. These sanctions have to be in place not until the war is over, but until Russia has fully compensated for all the damage caused to Ukraine," Karis told the assembled media.
During the meeting, President Karis handed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen a position paper outlining Estonia's proposals for protecting critical infrastructure within the EU, according to the President's Office.
On Sunday, Karis met with Polish President Andrzej Duda, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Vilnius in connection with the synchronization of the Baltic states' electricity systems with the continental European frequency area.
Connected⚡️ pic.twitter.com/LljmWAa3Vi
— Edgars Rinkēvičs (@edgarsrinkevics) February 9, 2025
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Editor: Mait Ots, Helen Wright
