Estonian president says EU should consider full trade embargo on Russia

Feb 9, 2025 - 21:00

Alar Karis, President of Estonia. Photo via Karis/X.

Estonian President Alar Karis has spoken in favor of a full trade embargo against Russia by the European Union.

Estonian President Alar Karis’ call for a full EU trade embargo on Russia underscores the growing push to sever Europe’s economic ties with Moscow amid the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, and a broader effort to diminish Russian leverage over Europe.

Karis visited Vilnius on Sunday 9 February together with the presidents of the European Commission, Latvia and Poland on the occasion of the synchronization of the Baltic States’ energy systems with continental Europe. There, he spoke of the need of further boosting EU independence vis-a-vis Russian energy influence.

”European Union should boost independence even further & end all Russian energy imports to the EU. We should even seriously consider a full trade embargo on Russia,” he said on X.

Dan Jorgensen, the European Commission member responsible for energy and housing, said the Russo-Ukrainian War showed that European countries must be fully independent of Russia in the energy sector.

On Saturday 8 February, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia successfully disconnected from the Russian power grid (OES/UPS), which has been in operation since Soviet times, and began operating in isolated mode, and on Sunday 9 February they connected to the Western European power grids.

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal called it a “momentous day,” while his predecessor in office, now the EU’s chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, called it a “victory for freedom and European unity.”

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