Estonian MFA secretary general: frozen Russian assets must be put to use for Ukraine
Estonia's Foreign Ministry secretary general Jonatan Vseviov says the West must pursue irreversible measures against Russia, including using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, while also backing international legal accountability for aggression.
Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs secretary general Jonatan Vseviov has said that one of the country's key diplomatic goals is achieving international measures that would have irreversible effects on Russia. While not all allies are yet convinced of such steps, he said the ministry does not view its efforts so far as a failure.
Vseviov pointed out that political forces exist across the Western world that campaign on promises to reverse current policy toward Russia and Ukraine and to end support for Kyiv. Because of this, he argued, the West needs policies that remain in place regardless of election outcomes.
Legal accountability above politics
According to Vseviov, legal proceedings are one area that does not depend on who holds power in a given government. For that reason, Estonia considers it essential to back the International Criminal Court, which has already issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin for war crimes. Since the ICC lacks jurisdiction over the crime of aggression itself, a separate mechanism needs to be established to address it.
He explained that the goal is to send a clear signal to Russia: even if those who organized the aggression cannot be arrested immediately — or possibly ever — political and practical accountability for planning the war and its crimes will hang over them indefinitely, ruling out any future Munich-style deal with Europe.
The question of frozen assets
Another priority for Estonian diplomacy is pushing forward principled decisions, chief among them the use of Russia's frozen assets to support Ukraine. Vseviov stressed that Estonia has worked diplomatically to secure measures that would irreversibly affect Russia, including channeling its frozen assets toward Ukraine's benefit.
