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EKRE Deputy Chairman Mart Helme, who participated in the major security debate on ETV’s “Esimene stuudio” program, said that the West cannot save Ukraine and that possible peace negotiations may go over Estonia’s heads. At the beginning of the program, representatives of the political parties commented on the recommendation of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) countries that had just taken place in Tallinn to increase defense spending to more than two percent of gross domestic product. EKRE Deputy Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Riigikogu Foreign Affairs Committee Mart Helme called the results of the JEF meeting a step in the right direction. “This has actually been criticized here for a long time, and I remember once reading a book like Michael Howard’s “War in the History of Europe,” which ends with the fact that wars have not become history, wars will inevitably return sooner or later. And Europe must also be ready for war,” said Helme. “In the meantime, the tie was still very loose and, in essence, there were a whole number of Western European countries whose defense spending was essentially nonexistent. They basically consisted of keeping the military on the payroll, conducting some exercises, updating the weapons and ammunition stocks to some extent, but in fact, there was no development of defense as such. In this sense, this is a step in the right direction, to now recognize that the good times are over. As we still like to say, Russia can only be restrained by force, so we need to show it force. And if showing this force now starts with agreeing on a real, tangible number, then this is a step in the right direction,” said Helme. Speaking about the war in Ukraine, Mart Helme said that if this war lasts another six months or a year, then Ukraine will simply collapse. “The Western countries do not have this consensus, they do not have these resources, they do not have this political will to help Ukraine win. I do not see this helping to win right now,” said Helme. Donald Trump has promised to end the war in a day, but he does not know how to end it. “The danger is that they will start talking over the heads of the Ukrainians. "This means that at some point we may also be the ones over whose heads something is being said," Helme said. The show premiered on December 18, 2024.