Estonia says Russia is making the same demands as in 2021 and seeking to dictate Europe’s security

Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on 13 November 2026 that Russia’s demands have not changed since 2021 and that, after nearly five years of war, Moscow is still seeking to dictate Europe’s security arrangements. “We cannot make concessions to an aggressor that would reward its aggression and encourage further attacks,” the ministry said on X. It pointed to a longer statement by Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna published earlier the same day.

Tsahkna: Moscow wants through negotiations what it failed to win on the battlefield

According to Tsahkna, after the Abu Dhabi talks Russia’s chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, explicitly invoked the security ultimatum Moscow issued to NATO and the West in 2021. The minister also says Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Russia wants to add new demands based on its experience during the war.

In Tsahkna’s words, Russia is again demanding restrictions on NATO membership and on the deployment of Allied forces, as well as on Ukraine’s right to choose its own security arrangements and allies. “It is clear that Russia is not taking part in the current process with the intention of ending its war against Ukraine,” the minister writes. In his view, Moscow wants to force sovereign countries to abandon their security choices and to restore Russian spheres of influence in Europe.

Tsahkna warns that if these demands become the starting point for negotiations, or are met even in part, it would send “an extremely dangerous message” that the use of force pays off. “Decisions on European security must be made by European countries themselves,” he writes.

What Moscow says publicly

In his public remarks after Abu Dhabi, Medinsky told Russian state television on 11 November that the task is to create a comprehensive security system in Europe that would become “a new, modern Yalta and Potsdam”, Euronews reports. Asked whether Russia was satisfied with the talks, he said: “Only when we win and sign a peace agreement on our terms.”

Flank has not found in published statements the exact words in which, according to Tsahkna, Medinsky and Ushakov invoked the 2021 demands and new demands. That characterisation is the Estonian minister’s. In December 2021, Russia published draft agreements with the United States and NATO demanding a halt to the Alliance’s enlargement and a withdrawal of Allied forces to their 1997 positions.

Tallinn calls for more pressure on Russia

Tsahkna calls on Europe to step up sanctions, limit Russia’s ability to finance its war, put frozen Russian assets to use and restrict visas for Russian citizens. In Dublin, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said: “This is a mental trap to talk about European security architecture before the peace,” Euronews reports.

In Flank’s assessment, Estonia’s position marks the main dividing line in the European debate after the Dublin meeting: whether European security should be discussed together with peace in Ukraine, or only after it. If Russian demands to limit NATO’s presence become part of the negotiations, they directly affect the countries on the Alliance’s eastern flank.