Putin Must Pay for Ukraine and Europe's 'Painful' Winter: Estonia

European Union and NATO nations must expand sanctions on Russia and military aid to Ukraine to ensure Vladimir Putin cannot use the coming winter to undermine western unity, Estonia's foreign minister has insisted.

Urmas Reinsalu told Newsweek next steps should include further restrictions on Moscow's lucrative oil exports—a partial embargo is due to kick in in December—and measures on gas exports.

"Raising the price of sanctions could create a stronger push on the aggressor to start to think about ending the war."

"I think it would be strategically wrong to think that now we just have to be patient and wait for what will happen with the level of weapons delivery and sanctions we have reached. No, we have to ramp up."

"There's only one person who can end the war and this is Putin. If the price tag is going to threaten his power position, his pyramid of power, if we push in that direction through our aid and determination for sanctions, this is something that will be a game changer."

Winter looks set to exacerbate Europe's energy and cost of living crises. European leaders are trying to steel their voters against the coming struggles. French President Emmanuel Macron, for example, told the public that "freedom has a cost."

Reinsalu noted: "If our willpower to deliver practical decisions is too weak, then it will just be a balanced crisis, a balanced war. And of course the socio-economic outcome that Ukraine suffers, also if you look into winter, will be very painful and traumatic."

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry to request comment.

The minister's calls came a day after the EU on Wednesday announced new restrictions announced, which stopped short of the total ban eastern European nations pushed for. "The paradigm on that particular issue is on the move," the minister added, noting that several months ago a similar proposal was rejected by EU states.

"Tectonic changes have happened in many European countries," Reinsalu said, noting German rearmament, and the imminent addition of Finland and Sweden to NATO, among other developments. "The question is whether we have done enough to concentrate our determination into action. And my answer is actually negative."

"We should be immediately ramping up the price to the aggressor," Reinsalu said, using the "strategic pillars" of sanctions and military aid. Weapon supplies should include U.S.-made ATACMS precision missiles, Reinsalu said, fired from HIMARS and MLRS with a range of up to 186 miles (300 kilometers).

Reinsalu said some Western nations have fallen victims to "myths" of escalation that have stymied international support for Kyiv and allowed the fighting to drag on.

"The first wave of myths was that if we give heavy weaponry it would be such an escalation that we would face a nuclear winter, but it has not been the case," the minister said.

"Secondly, it was a myth that we can't give sophisticated weapons systems to the Ukrainians because they are untrained, or unable by their competence to use it. It appears to also have been a myth."

"The third myth is that now we are out of our stockpiles, that we do not have anything to deliver. And this is also actually not the case. We do have enough in our stockpiles. In the coming weeks, if we pass a political decision and deliver these arms also into the front line, it will make a difference."

Russia's February invasion has prompted a re-imagining of European security, one that Reinsalu said should begin with Ukrainian victory.

"Genocide is being executed in the middle of Europe," the foreign minister said.

"If Ukraine loses, it's going to be a problem for us to look in the mirror due to the shame," Reinsalu said. "The price tag—from the economic and security perspective, and our capability to defend our way of life—is going to be enormous. It's going to be a tectonic difference."

Overcoming Putin will not be easy, Reinsalu said. "He's really dedicated, I've no doubt about that." The Kremlin's focus now will be "Western willpower and Western unity," the minister added.

"We need to describe it very simply. Either Putin's willpower is stronger, or ours is stronger. And without our willpower being stronger, then Ukraine can't prevail, or even survive."