Prime Minister Kallas: Ukraine does not have the time for us to act indecisively

The head of government says the discussion was joined via video by Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna, whose attendance was cut short by an air raid siren. "When a speaker at a conference has to take shelter in the middle of a panel due to an air raid siren, it makes it as clear as clear can be what is at stake," she remarked.

Prime Minister Kallas stressed that we must avoid achieving peace in Ukraine that comes at a cost. "We must not give in to our fatigue, or to false hopes that peace will be restored tomorrow," she cautioned. "Securing justice and prosecuting the aggressor must be our priority. We cannot make the same mistakes we have made so many times before. If we are unable to stop the aggressor, they will think that aggression pays off, and the atrocities we have already seen committed will repeat themselves. We must also realise that we cannot return to the business as usual with Russia."

Prime Minister Kallas also said that in her view it is not appropriate to engage with a war criminal. "Why should we approach him?" she asked. "Talking to Putin produces no results. Doing so will not help him to grasp that he is completely isolated."

The head of government also underscored the importance of history. "When we look at Russia, we can see that although the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia's imperialistic mindset and glorification of Stalinism have gone nowhere, and that is very dangerous," she warned. "The crimes committed under communism have never been condemned to the same extent in Russia as those committed by the Nazis. I recommend that all of the international guests here at the conference pay a visit to the memorial to victims of communism while they are in Tallinn."

The theme of this year's Lennart Meri conference is 'Time Flees'. There are moments when action must be taken here and now: Ukraine does not have the time for us to act indecisively. Ukraine must win the war and the aggressor must lose.

Taking part in the opening panel alongside Prime Minister Kallas were European Parliament president Roberta Metsola, Atlantic Council representative Daniel Fried, Centre for Liberal Strategies director Ivan Krastev and Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna. The panel was moderated by New York Times journalist Steven Erlanger.

A recording of the panel can be found online at https://youtu.be/_EZaQ5J6LQg, with photos at https://www.flickr.com/photos/lennartmericonference/albums/72177720298915968.

At 19:00 today, Prime Minister Kallas will be moderating a discussion at the conference on the links between energy and climate issues and geopolitics, including the use of energy as a geopolitical weapon. Those taking part will be Steve Clemons (chief editor of The Hill), Lykke Friis (director of Think Tank Europe), Charles Grant (director of the Centre for European Reform) and Geir Westgaart (Equinor senior adviser on geopolitics and energy). They will be discussing the impact of the war on the European energy sector, its future and the green transition and how to overcome dependence on Russian energy.

The discussion will be livestreamed at https://lmc.icds.ee/agenda/energy-climate-and-geopolitics/.

Prior to the discussion, Prime Minister Kallas will be meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jan Lipavský, Minister of Defence of Singapore Ng Eng Hen and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Integration of Moldova Oleg Serebrian to talk about bilateral cooperation, the security situation in Europe and the war in Ukraine.

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