Beijing: In a firm diplomatic appeal, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna called on China to reduce its economic support for Russia and actively join U.S. and European efforts to pressure President Vladimir Putin into a ceasefire in Ukraine. Speaking during a Tuesday interview in Beijing, Tsahkna emphasized China’s substantial influence over Russia’s fragile economy, highlighting that Beijing could play a decisive role in ending the ongoing 44-month conflict.
Tsahkna’s two-day visit marked the first by an Estonian foreign minister to China in a decade. Meetings with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and senior officials focused on Moscow’s aggression in Europe, security concerns, and bilateral trade issues. Tsahkna remarked, “China says that they are not part of this military conflict, but I was very clear that China has huge leverage over Russia, every week more and more, because the Russian economy is weak.”
The Estonian minister also addressed China’s supply of dual-use goods items that have both civilian and military applications to Russia, which Western capitals view as indirectly sustaining Moscow’s war effort. China, however, maintains that it strictly controls such exports. Tsahkna noted that these trade dynamics have increasingly strained EU-China relations, especially since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Security issues were a key highlight of the discussions. Tsahkna cited recent Russian drone incursions into Polish airspace and a 12-minute violation of Estonian airspace by Russian military jets, stressing that these acts were deliberate “tests of NATO unity” rather than mere spillovers from the conflict. Estonia, which regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, regards Moscow as its primary security threat.
Trade and technology were also on the agenda. Tsahkna discussed the stalled EU-China free trade agreement and rare-earth materials, noting that China controls over 90% of global supply. Estonia, home to one of the few rare-earth magnet production facilities outside China, is keen to see Beijing responsibly manage its leverage to avoid disruption in high-tech manufacturing, semiconductors, electric vehicles, and defense systems.
Tsahkna’s visit signals Estonia’s commitment to multilateral pressure on Russia and highlights the increasingly intertwined dimensions of trade, security, and geopolitics. Observers will now watch closely whether China responds with concrete measures, balancing its strategic ties with Russia against growing Western expectations.