Estonia PM: No giving in to nuke threats

TALLINN, Estonia — Estonia’s prime minister said Tuesday that the West must not give in to Moscow’s nuclear threats or premature peace proposals but stand firmly in support of Ukraine as the invaded country fights to rid its occupied territories of Russian soldiers.

Kaja Kallas, who has led Estonia’s government since last year, told The Associated Press in an interview that “very dangerous” calls for negotiations and peace in Ukraine have come from “very prominent people” lately.

She didn’t specify anyone by name, but her comments came a day after Tesla CEO Elon Musk floated on Twitter a proposal for ending the war that elicited fierce opposition from Kyiv.

Musk, who has been involved in an on and off and reportedly on again deal to buy the social media platform, argued that Russia should be allowed to keep the Crimean Peninsula that it seized in 2014. The four regions Russia annexed following Kremlin-orchestrated “referendums” last month should hold repeat votes organized by the United Nations, he said.

Musk also said that to bring about peace, Ukraine should adopt a neutral status, dropping a bid to join NATO.

In her interview with the AP, Kallas recalled the Soviet occupation of Estonia, during which a significant portion of the country’s political and social elite was imprisoned, deported or killed.

“Even if there is peace, it doesn’t mean that the human suffering for those territories will end,” Kallas said.

The prime minister expressed hope that Russia’s embarrassing battlefield setbacks in Ukraine, domestic resistance to Moscow’s military mobilization and mounting criticism from Putin’s allies mean “we are seeing the beginning of the end of this war.”

Kallas reiterated Estonia’s support for Ukraine’s NATO ambitions.