Estonian Foreign Minister Urges China To Join AS-Europe Press Putin

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna/PHOTO via Instagram @margustsakna

JAKARTA - Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsakkna urged China to stop its economic support for Russia's war in Ukraine.

Estonia also urged Beijing to join European and US efforts in pressuring President Vladimir Putin to make a ceasefire.

Tsahkna met with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and a number of other officials on a two-day visit to Beijing. This visit was the first visit of an Estonian foreign minister in a decade, in which Russian aggression against Europe and trade became the main agenda.

"Childs say they are not part of this military conflict, but I firmly believe that China has a huge influence on Russia, getting bigger every week, as Russia's economy is weak," Tsahkna told Reuters on Wednesday, November 5.

US President Donald Trump said he would "work together" with Chinese President Xi Jinping to end the war in Ukraine after meeting in South Korea last week.

He said Xi "will help". However, he did not pressure Beijing to reduce Russian oil purchases.

"President Trump also said that this pressure (on Russia) is very important, that China should join. And I think China can do a lot if it helps pressure Russia to end the war," said Tsahkna.

Last month, the European Union launched a new sanctions package and Washington imposed sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies to pressure Moscow to immediately respond to a ceasefire over the war that has been going on for 44 months.

Tsahkna also raised the issue of China supplying important dwiguna components to support Russia's war efforts to its partners.

China denies the allegations and says it strictly controls the export of dwiguna goods.

China's support for Russia has been a major issue overshadowing European-Chinese relations since Moscow's invasion of 2022. Visiting European leaders have repeatedly raised this issue, but Beijing's position has not changed much.

Estonia, like its neighboring countries in Baltic, Latvia, and Lithuania, was forcibly annexed by Moscow during the Second World War, and only regained its independence in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed. Currently, Estonia considers Moscow a major threat to its security.