Stubb made a surprise visit to the United States on Saturday, during which he met with President Donald Trump in Florida, played a round of golf with him and discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation.

Stubb said he sees April 20 as a suitable date for an unconditional ceasefire to be established in Ukraine.

Tsahkna (Eesti 200) admitted that Stubb's golf meeting with Trump came as a surprise. "But it was truly excellent that the Finnish president had such an extended opportunity to engage with President Trump. And secondly — there had been discussion about how there needs to be something concrete for Putin as well, a moment from which pressure on him begins to build again," he said on Monday.

"This April 20 date is now a concrete one, and let's be honest — both Trump and [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy have clearly expressed their support for a full-scale ceasefire. But instead of engaging in talks about such a ceasefire, Putin has issued more and more new conditions that have absolutely nothing to do with the ceasefire itself, but rather with everything else," Tsahkna said.

According to Tsahkna, it is a very good thing that a clear date has been set for Putin to take steps toward establishing a ceasefire. "After that, I believe it's time to exert real pressure on Putin," he added.

The foreign minister noted that Finland has yet to share details of the meeting with him. "In that sense, our communication is functioning well, but I don't yet have a detailed overview. Though yes, we have a fairly good idea of what was discussed. Broader issues were also addressed," he said.

Tsahkna said there is no reason to worry that British troops would be transferred from Estonia to Ukraine in the event of a possible ceasefire.

"It's true that if a ceasefire does take hold and a more lasting peace starts to emerge — something that Europe must also help ensure — then that does give Russia and Putin the opportunity to reposition their forces. That's why our message to all allies has been clear: we cannot view peacekeeping solely in terms of Ukraine, but must consider the entire eastern flank of NATO," the minister said.

He emphasized that the British have confirmed they are not reducing their presence in Estonia: "They are not revising their plans or the commitments they have taken on. So we have no fear in that regard."

Estonia's Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur (Reform) also recently told the Financial Times that it's clear that once the war in Ukraine is stopped, Russia will quickly reposition its forces. "That means also the threat level will increase significantly very quickly."

Pevkur said that of the 600,000 Russian troops currently estimated to be in Ukraine, 300,000 would probably be redeployed. "These men will not go back to different parts of Russia to harvest the corn or do something else because the salary they are getting in the army is like five to 10 times more than what they could get in their hometown."

"However, we do need to identify the kind of deterrence forces that could, if necessary, be deployed to Ukraine to help maintain peace," Tsahkna told ERR, though he added that this does not mean sending hundreds of thousands of troops.

"But we haven't even reached the stage where the necessary conditions are in place — we have no ceasefire whatsoever," he said. "We see no indication that Putin has any desire to establish a ceasefire or begin real, lasting peace negotiations. So for now, the people of Estonia have no reason to worry and I believe our security and allied military presence will remain as strong as it is now — if not even increase."

The foreign minister agreed that a proper observer network is essential for monitoring a ceasefire along such an extended front line, but stressed that the lack of observers has not been the obstacle. "The lack of observers is not what's holding back a ceasefire — that has been Putin's narrative: 'But who will monitor it and how can it really be done?' That's not a real issue, not with today's technology. We know very well when someone opens fire or does anything, even without international observers. So that's not an obstacle. It's just more of Putin's talk, designed to muddle things and make them overly complicated so that a ceasefire seems impossible. Let's be honest — if Putin gave the order for a ceasefire, it could be done immediately."

When asked how realistic it is that the guns might fall silent on April 20, Tsahkna replied: "That depends entirely on what orders Putin gives to his forces. Let's be honest — this war can only be ended immediately by Putin and so far he has shown no desire to do so. That's why President Stubb's proposal to mark a clear date is a very good one."

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