Kaja Kallas, the Estonian prime minister, said the west should seize Russia’s frozen assets before the US election, in a further sign of European concern at the impact a second Trump presidency might have on the west’s policy on Russia and support for Ukraine.
“Elections are always turbulent times,” Kallas told the Financial Times on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. “It’s always better to do everything we can before important elections.”
The likelihood that Donald Trump will become the Republican Party’s nominee for this year’s US presidential election has spooked many in Europe, especially after the businessman said he would tell Russia to do “whatever the hell it wants” to Nato countries that failed to spend enough on defence.