The Russian war against Ukraine must be stopped as soon as possible. But not at the cost of any concessions from Kyiv. This was stated by the President of Estonia Alar Karis during a conference at the Atlantic Council.. He also expressed doubt that the current peace talks, the next round held today in Turkey, will bring results..

The Estonian president explained his skepticism by talking about a conversation with the Russian ambassador in Tallinn.

“I spoke with the Russian ambassador to Estonia. He told me: " According to him, the war is unlikely to end soon.. That's what he told me. This is the same ambassador to whom I personally presented my credentials,” Karis said..

According to Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausedi, in order to achieve peace, everything possible must be done so that the war is a failure for Russia. He pointed out that Ukrainians are still tirelessly defending their country.. But other measures are needed to bring peace closer..

“We should have talked about the impact of our sanctions. Yes, they were already powerful enough. But so far they have had only a limited macroeconomic impact on Russia.. Therefore, we must talk about tightening these sanctions.. We need to talk about the exclusion of all Russian banks from SWIFT, about the limitations of strategically important resources for Russia, in particular, about its oil, gas, fuel for nuclear reactors. Not only Russian oligarchs should be under pressure. The entire Russian middle class should feel the negative consequences of this war,” Nauseda stressed..

He also added that the West should also work to close all loopholes to circumvent sanctions.. In addition, the Lithuanian President pointed out that some countries may try to help Moscow avoid all the restrictions imposed.. In particular, China can do this.

Following the results of today's talks in Istanbul, the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, after the talks, said that Russia is not against Ukraine's entry into the European Union, while Kyiv promises to refuse to join military alliances. Also, Ukraine abandons the desire to return the Crimea and Donbass by military means, and Ukraine declares itself a permanently neutral state under international legal guarantees.

In turn, Mikhail Podolyak said that the issues of the future of Crimea and Donbass will be discussed in the framework of negotiations between the presidents of Ukraine and Russia.