In an interview with Finland's public broadcaster Yle, Karis said that relations with Russia will remain difficult for a long time, even if the war in Ukraine were to end.

"The most important thing is that Russia must change," the president emphasized. He cited examples from recent history to illustrate that change is possible.

"Nazi Germany was an aggressor state. After the Second World War, once the country's leadership had been punished, Germany changed. In less than ten years it joined NATO and then the European Union," Karis recalled.

Russia has been waging a full-scale war against Ukraine since February 2022. In Karis's view, Europe made a mistake in the spring of that year by letting its best chance to start peace negotiations slip away.

"When Russian forces were pushed back from around Kyiv toward Russia's borders, Europe had an opportunity to bring the aggressor to the negotiating table. At the moment, no one is going there anymore," Karis said regretfully.

Nonetheless, Europe needs a plan for dealing with Russia, both for peace negotiations and for the postwar period. According to Karis, work on drafting such a plan must begin now.

"The European Union has invested heavily in Ukraine. A situation must not arise where, at the right moment, the United States, Russia, and perhaps some third country are sitting at the negotiating table, but Europe is not there," Karis said.

"We must have ideas and plans for how to deal with Russia. We need to start outlining them right now, because processes in the EU take a long time," the president stressed.

Yle noted that in recent months Karis has been criticized at home over comments he made to foreign media earlier this year. In Estonia, his remarks were interpreted as if the president were calling on European countries to negotiate with Russia and demanding that Ukraine give up territory in the name of peace.

Karis rejected claims that he had called on Ukraine to make territorial concessions.

"That is for Ukraine to decide. We cannot dictate to them what they must do," Karis said.

In addition to supporting Ukraine, Estonia has invested heavily in national defense in recent years. This year, more than five percent of gross domestic product (GDP) will be allocated to the defense budget.

Karis said he understands people's concerns at a time when other spending has had to be cut and inflation is putting pressure on prices. "Culture is important, and the population is aging, which requires social spending. But right now there is no other choice. We simply have to get through these hard times," he said.

The president also dismissed claims that Estonia is increasing defense spending merely to curry favor with the U.S. administration.

"We have done all of this based on our own needs and NATO defense plans," Karis said.

In the Yle interview, the Estonian president also commented on the situation in which Estonia has its border crossing points with Russia open, while Finland keeps its own closed.

"When speaking to the relevant people, [Estonia's] border can be closed very quickly if the security situation requires it," Karis noted. Finland's eastern border, however, is very long, and for that reason, he said, it is difficult to operate in the same way as Estonia.

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