Estonian MFA secretary general says frozen Russian assets must be used
One of Estonia's main diplomatic goals is to achieve international measures that would have irreversible effects on Russia. Despite the fact that not all allies have been convinced yet, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not consider its efforts a failure, secretary general Jonatan Vseviov said.
Vseviov stressed that because political forces exist in the Western world that promise, during election campaigns, to overturn today's Russia and Ukraine policies and abandon support for Ukraine, the West must adopt policies that are above electoral cycles.
"One such area is, of course, legal proceedings, which do not depend on who sits in parliament or who forms the government," Vseviov explained.
For that reason, Estonia considers it critically important to support the work of the International Criminal Court, which has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for war crimes. Since the ICC does not have jurisdiction over the crime of aggression, something separate must be created.
"We are working on this to send a signal to Russia: even if we cannot put handcuffs on the organizers of aggression immediately, or a year from now, or perhaps ever, the axe — politically and practically — will hang over the heads of those who planned aggression and war crimes until the end of time, poisoning any possibility of striking some Munich‑style deal with Europe," Vseviov emphasized.
In the same context, Estonia continues pushing for other principled decisions, the most important of which is the use of Russia's frozen assets to support Ukraine.
"Estonia has sought, through its diplomacy, to achieve measures that would affect Russia irreversibly — such as putting Russia's frozen assets to use for Ukraine's benefit," Vseviov said.
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Editor: Mari Peegel, Argo Ideon
Source: ERR interview by Arp Müller
