Epp-Mare Kukemelk, spokesperson for the Office of the President, told ERR that there is currently no meeting with the foreign minister in the president's schedule.

"In the past four months, in addition to the EV108 reception, the president and the foreign minister have met at a dinner held in honor of the King of Denmark and at a meeting of delegations (January 27), at the government's Christmas reception (December 10 last year) and at the anniversary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (November 12 last year)," she said.

Kerstin Meresma, media adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Tsahkna attended the Independence Day reception on February 24, where the two had a brief handshake. "Prior to that, both the minister and the president were alternating on foreign visits," she said.

Unified foreign policy?

Relations between Tsahkna and Karis have been tense for some time.

At the end of 2025, there was confusion over foreign policy messages during Karis' state visit to Kazakhstan, when the Estonian ambassador Jaap Ora advised the president to refrain from making statements about supporting Ukraine. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs later announced that the ambassador had decided to resign.

Tsahkna was also critical of Karis' statement that Hungary should be supported in withdrawing from its energy agreement with Russia and should be helped in paying any penalties arising from the contract.

The latest disagreements emerged after interviews Karis gave to foreign media in early February on a visit to Dubai, in which he said that a European Union representative should also take part in discussions with the United States, Ukraine and Russia on ending the war. Tsahkna was also irritated by Karis' remark that Ukraine must at some point decide for itself on the possible cession of its territory to Russia.

In an interview last month, Karis said that Estonia's foreign policy is unified and that if the foreign minister does not understand what the president is saying, he is always ready to explain.

"One must always communicate, and if they see a problem, then it is still the case that they communicate with me, because if I do not see a problem, I have no reason to communicate," Karis said.

He expressed regret that Tsahkna communicates with him through newspaper columns rather than directly.

The minister blamed Karis.

"There are coordination processes, meetings, meetings of advisers, and we all have each other's phone numbers. If the president has proposals to change something in Estonia's foreign policy, then this is certainly not done through the media, especially at the international level, but by sitting down at the table and presenting proposals, which we have not received," Tsahkna said.

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