Former Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves told TVP World that the Baltic nations are not naive and are prepared to “shoot” any "little green men" sent across the border by Russia. He also dismissed Vladimir Putin's claims about the need to "protect Russian-speaking people in Estonia" as entirely detached from reality. “Russian speakers living in Estonia earn more, can travel freely across the EU, and at least won't be sent to fight on the front line in Ukraine,” he said. Ilves also stressed that support for separatism among Russian-speaking residents of Estonia is extremely limited and that the Kremlin continues to rely on outdated narratives to justify its actions. In his view, one of the biggest misconceptions in the West is the assumption that Russian-speaking communities automatically support Moscow. The former Estonian president also expressed concern about the current strategic direction of the United States. Commenting on Donald Trump's decision to lift sanctions on Russian diesel and reports surrounding the possibility or reactivating the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Ilves said Europe should be deeply concerned about the signals coming from Washington.
