Returning from the NATO foreign ministers' meeting, Tsahkna said there is still strong support for Ukraine. The mood was "hopeful", as it is clear that Russia has not made progress in Ukraine in recent months.

At the meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio pointed out that there has been no progress in the peace process and hinted at a U.S. withdrawal. Tsahkna said that the United States is no longer driving Russia-Ukraine negotiations forward on its own initiative.

"Essentially, they are over in their previous form," Tsahkna noted. "Everyone now understands that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's desire is to draw Europe into the negotiations. The talks that lasted more than a year — which in reality were not negotiations at all, but simply talks — gave Putin an opportunity to buy time. We see that during this time he was very actively engaged both in military activity and in terrorizing Ukrainian society throughout the winter."

The foreign minister said the Russians are actively trying to draw Europe into some kind of talks.

"The idea is precisely to pull Europe into the role of mediator," he told ERR's "Ukraina stuudio". "Now, Putin needs to buy time. If Europe were to take on the role of mediator, then we would no longer be talking about the next sanctions package that we are currently preparing. There is one very painful thing there that Putin fears: a complete ban on maritime services throughout the European Union and a whole series of other sanctions."

European foreign ministers understand that rushing into a meeting with Putin would weaken Europe's position and would not help Ukraine.

"We must maintain a strategic and patient pause, put more pressure on Russia and at some point bring Putin seriously to the negotiating table, where today he still does not want to come voluntarily," Tsahkna outlined.

Europe cannot mediate

European foreign ministers will gather in Cyprus this week and discuss Europe's limited ability to mediate. Tsahkna said Europe cannot take up this role.

"The role of mediator means taking a neutral position to begin seeking a compromise between Ukraine and Russia. That is absolutely not our goal. Our goal is to define, and someday, if negotiations do take place, to stand up for what Europe's future security architecture will look like, in which Ukraine will certainly have a very large role. What the security guarantees will be — not only for Ukraine, but also from Ukraine to us, because let's be honest, Ukraine today is the largest military force — what the reconstruction process will look like and what Russia's responsibility will be," the foreign minister said.

"But this cannot be done from the position of a mediator, which is supposed to be neutral, as we saw in some ways in Trump's case, although at one point everyone lost their nerve because that mediator role turned more into pressure on Ukraine. This is understood," he added.

Tsahkna noted that if the Americans are no longer present at the talks, Ukrainians may begin to suspect that Europe will also step aside, but this is not true.

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finnish President Alexander Stubb are rumored to be under consideration for a possible European representative during talks with Russia.

" Various names have indeed been mentioned, but fortunately, the focus is not on that right now, because that is not the substance of the matter and does not help move anything forward. In the end, someone or some kind of group will eventually be found," the foreign minister said.

"But from our perspective, it is important that this region, like us here on Russia's border, is not somehow left out of those negotiations, if they ever genuinely begin," he added.

Tsahkna said no one in Europe is likely to achieve such a position that they could go and speak alone on behalf of all of Europe and have everyone accept it.

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