Estonia should publicly express dissatisfaction with US President Donald Trump's remarks and actions if it disagrees with them, the new Estonian president's security adviser said.
Rainer Saks, whom Madise hired soon after being elected president in September, said Trump's frustration over Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries stems from a domestic desire to keep fuel prices down ahead of the US midterms next month.
Trump said late last week Russia would immediately release over 300,000 metric tons of diesel onto US and global markets, with more shipments coming. This followed the US lifting of sanctions on Russian diesel exports.
Speaking at a press conference in Riga Tuesday while on her first official visit as president, Ülle Madise declined to comment directly on the deal.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the deal, prompting Trump to say it was time for Ukraine to choose a new president.
According to Saks, Trump's remarks carried personal frustration with Zelenskyy's actions. He added that it is important to distinguish what was based on fact from what was political assessment.
Speaking to "Ringvaade," Saks said he had advised Madise to first speak with the prime minister and foreign minister to take on board Estonia's position on the issue.
"The second thing I will certainly be telling the president is that if we are not satisfied with what President Trump has just done, then we have to express that somehow. We cannot simply ignore it when we are asked how we feel about all this," Saks said.
Trump has also once again threatened to suspend intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Saks said there was no need to make a big deal of that aspect. He also noted that even with manipulating world oil prices ahead of elections, Trump is not alone in the US, though the geopolitical situation has changed since his predecessor was in office.
"I would draw a parallel here: President Biden, towards the end of his term, when there was still a year to go until the presidential election, tried to curb Ukraine's actions towards Russia, precisely in order to control the oil price. Sanctions have been played with there, and in that sense President Trump is half right — some of the diesel fuel consumed will be coming onto the world market from Russia. But the bigger problem is that supply chains in the Middle East have collapsed," Saks explained.
In Saks's assessment, Trump is demonstrating his displeasure given the midterm elections are approaching and the Republicans are not in a strong position — something Russia knows and is capitalizing on.
"Trump's frustration is not so much caused by strikes on oil refineries. He wants to get the price of diesel and other motor fuels down in the US before the election. That creates weakness in him, and Russia exploits it quite skillfully," Saks said.
At Tuesday's press conference, Madise said she "can honestly say that the information about this so-called diesel deal is relatively new to me," adding that in her experience it is necessary to "get your facts straight" before taking a strong position on a significant issue — facts which Madise said she lacked at that point in time.
She added that "in abstract terms, it is undoubtedly clear that anything that helps the aggressor to wage war is bad," as is anything which harms Ukraine, which is fighting that aggressor.
Trump said Friday Russia was to release more than 300,000 metric tons of diesel to US and global markets, with another 500,000 tons in November and a further 1 million tons after that.
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