"Of course, in a situation where this war has essentially been lost — this is now openly acknowledged, and there is almost no realistic chance that Ukraine will be restored within its official borders," Helme told ERR on Thursday.

According to him, both Americans and Europeans, as well as even Ukrainians themselves, now recognize that the post-peace agreement border between Ukraine and Russia will be determined by the frontline at the time of the peace deal.

"I can't say whether there will be any adjustments, exchanges or modifications along the edges, but fundamentally, whatever territory the Russians have taken, they will keep. In this sense, it is crucial to end the war as quickly as possible because, essentially, the Russians are gaining more territory every day. The sooner the war ends, the less land will remain in Russian hands and the more of Ukraine will be preserved. If these same Western leaders, who have emotionally aligned themselves with the Ukrainians — including Estonia's leaders — had realized this a year ago, more of Ukraine would still exist today," said the EKRE chairman.

When asked whether Estonia should send its soldiers to Ukraine, Helme responded with a categorical no: "Absolutely not! Even opening such a discussion in Estonia is, in my view, dangerous, harmful and foolish."

He added that decisions regarding Ukraine are matters for the major powers. "The major powers will decide without us anyway, but they cannot decide on our behalf that, as a frontline state with Russia, we should also take on the responsibility of defending yet another frontline country. Such delusions of grandeur should not be entertained by sane and rational people in broad daylight," Helme commented on Estonia's potential involvement in such a peacekeeping mission.

According to him, the liberal-led Estonian government has made fundamental mistakes from the very beginning. "This emotional self-incitement, claiming that Ukraine's war is our war, has been false from the start — it has never been our war. It has been Ukraine's war, in which we support Ukraine and act as its allies financially and in other ways, but it is not our war," he said.

"The people who have financially, militarily and emotionally invested themselves in this war now have very few options. What can they say today? That we gave away our weapons to Ukraine, we poured our money into it, we have flooded our country with Russian-speaking people whom we generously call Ukrainians and what have we received in return? Nothing! Instead, we are now seeing the Americans pulling back from Europe and telling us that it is our problem," Helme continued.

When asked about the possible security arrangements after the war in Ukraine, Helme said that the first step will likely be for the United States to help strengthen Ukraine's independent defense capability, which would serve as the primary deterrent.

"Secondly, it is absolutely clear that the Americans and the Russians will reach a broader agreement, a larger deal concerning the global security architecture. And they won't be the only ones in that deal — it will also involve China, Europe, the Arctic and all related issues. What we are witnessing now is a power struggle between great powers, and it is the Ukrainians who are paying the price with their lives in the midst of this struggle," he said.

Helme also referred to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's statement on Wednesday that, going forward, Europe must take primary responsibility for its own defense.

"Along with that, it was stated that America will fulfill its alliance commitments within NATO. Simply put, this means that the U.S. will come to our aid if Russia attacks us, but only on the condition that Europeans fulfill their own responsibilities and strengthen their own national defense," he added.

The EKRE leader emphasized that Estonia must strengthen its own defense, but in his view, increasing defense spending to 5 percent of GDP is unrealistic in the current economic situation.

"So, the answer to the question of what will happen to Ukraine or what will ensure that this partial Ukraine is not lost is that a major agreement will guarantee it. Not some French or British units stationed somewhere near the Donbas border — because there wouldn't be enough of them there anyway — but rather a major agreement will ensure it," Helme concluded.

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