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Estonia’s Defence Minister, Hanno Pevkur, also said that Western sanctions had especially hurt Russia’s production of airplanes and maintenance of helicopters by depriving the country of key components.
“When we can find new ways on how to impact Russia with the sanctions, for sure we need to do that,” Pevkur said.
Pevkur, who met US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, warned that Russia still had the capacity to conduct attacks, including on NATO members such as Estonia.
However, he played down the possibility of a nuclear strike, an option threatened by Russian President Vladimir Putin as he proclaimed the annexation of Ukrainian territory.
Russia has already “put the fear onto Ukraine” with its conventional attacks, Pevkur said.
“I don’t see any positive, additional added value to Russia” of a nuclear strike, he said.
“The only thing - what can happen is that they would lose their silent supporters like China or some others because of that.”
