Estonia’s top diplomat thinks Russia’s war on Ukraine goes well beyond the front lines.

“This is not about Europe. I think that for Putin and for Russia, the U.S. is the main enemy, like historically,” Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told Fox News in an exclusive interview in Estonia’s capital, Tallinn. 

“He has a plan to restore the Soviet empire, and this is exactly what he’s doing. Ukraine is just one example,” he added. 

Nine years ago, Tsahkna, then serving as Estonia’s defense minister, watched as 120,000 Russian soldiers massed just across the border, ready to invade his country in just 48 hours. 

Since late 2023, nearly a dozen undersea cables in the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland have been cut. Russia is suspected but “it’s very hard to say exactly,” Tsahkna said. Over 14 people from Russia’s so-called shadow fleet have been arrested. China is suspected of carrying out at least one act of sabotage as well. 

President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the first time since their Oval Office spat in February. (Vatican and Ukraine Ambassador to Holy See)

NATO deployed warships off the coast of Estonia in January, and since then no cables have been cut, officers told Fox while on two ships in the Gulf of Finland Tuesday. 

When asked about the prospects of a ceasefire and eventual end of hostilities in Ukraine, Tsahkna replied with a warning: 

“President Trump has said very clearly that he wants to have peace. The Ukraine [sic] people want to have a [sic] peace – and I think that this is something that Putin doesn’t want.”

Tsahkna does not believe Putin would ever use nuclear weapons, calling such a move “political suicide.” 

“He’s just brutal, but also sometimes, from the Western part of the world, we are too weak,” Tsahkna added. “Putin is playing with our fears.”