Michal says Estonia will not soften its language on Russia

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said he would not hold back when speaking about the threat from Russia and argued that pressure on Moscow should continue, ERR reported.

“Being silent or trying to please dictators is certainly not a solution,” Michal said. He added that supporting Ukraine and maintaining pressure were the only ways to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to change his aims.

Michal said Russia was targeting electricity and heating infrastructure ahead of winter and had also turned to water and sewage systems. He said Russian forces were killing women and children, and that European leaders could not use words strong enough to describe the actions.

He said Russia was making no real progress on the battlefield and was therefore carrying out various hybrid attacks. Michal said he would not soften his tone or remain silent about Russia.

Michal said he had not personally received requests to tone down his comments. He said that at the NATO summit in Ankara in the summer, the message from the US was instead that European countries should take their defence against the Russian threat seriously and spend more on defence. Estonia was a strong security provider and partner to the United States, he said.

Reuters reported on Friday, citing several unnamed sources, that the United States had asked the Baltic states to lower the tone on Russia and reduce public emphasis on the threat from Moscow.