Don’t try to ‘please the dictator,’ Estonian leader urges Europe about Putin

TALLINN — Europe shouldn’t open a diplomatic channel to Russian President Vladimir Putin, warned the leader of one of the continent’s most exposed nations. “Europe should not be in a mediator’s position,” Estonia’s Prime Minister Kristen Michal told POLITICO in an interview this week. “You should not take the role of trying to please the dictator.” European leaders have long feared the U.S.

administration under President Donald Trump may pursue a Russia–Ukraine peace deal on terms that sideline Europe and disadvantage Kyiv. The most recent talks between Washington and Moscow have reignited debate in Brussels and national capitals about the need for Europe to have its own direct line to the Kremlin. Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a 90-minute call with Putin in late October.

The Estonian premier — whose country of 1.3 million people borders Russia and has been subject to Moscow’s persistent attempts to stoke internal unrest — warned against the idea of direct talks, saying it would weaken Europe’s position with Putin.