Estonian PM: Nothing to Discuss With Russia on European Security

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform Party) said on Friday at an informal meeting of European leaders in Dublin, Ireland, that Europe's security architecture is not open for negotiation with Russia. In his view, Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to steer Europe's attention toward a list of his own demands instead of working toward a lasting peace in Ukraine.

"Putin wants us to discuss his wish list instead of focusing on achieving peace in Ukraine," Michal said, as quoted in a government press release. He stressed that the current security architecture works well, and that if it were changed at all, it would only be so that Ukraine becomes a member of the European Union and NATO and Russia stops killing people.

Support for Ukraine

Michal said Estonia will provide Ukraine with an additional €6.5 million. Of that, €4.5 million is earmarked for locomotives and €2 million for recovery. The prime minister stressed that Ukraine faces a very difficult winter and that the EU must find resources to help it get through and to ensure it has what it needs to defend itself.

He noted that Europe is represented in the Ukraine peace talks by EU institutions and the E5 countries: France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom. European Council President António Costa and the European Commission, he said, have a responsibility to coordinate positions jointly agreed by member states.

Artificial intelligence

Michal also raised artificial intelligence at the meeting. He said Europe must not replace its dependence on imported fossil fuels with a dependence on foreign AI. In his words, the EU's two main advantages in this field are its single market and its data, which should be used better, and Europe must also have strong companies and technologies of its own.

Leaders discussed AI with Arthur Mensch, CEO of French company Mistral, and Professor Geoffrey Hinton, one of the pioneers of AI. Michal said Europe needs capital, computing power and the ability to grow across the single market, with investment directed at robotics, autonomous vehicles and smart healthcare.