Putin afraid of war with NATO - Estonia PM

Estonia Prime Minister Kaja Kallas believes Russian leader Vladimir Putin is trying to intimidate Western audiences to restrain their governments but, in fact, he is afraid of the actual war with NATO Allies.

The prime minister spoke in an interview with BBC, Ukrinform reports.

According to the government chief, although Putin is well able to "sow fear", his threats should be taken “seriously”.

"He has been threatening with nuclear war for quite some time. But it has been only words. He has been very good at sow fear within our societies and listening, what we are afraid of," said Kallas.

"If we are afraid, then we start to self-deter. And that is what Putin wants," Kallas said.

"We also have to think what Putin is afraid of. And he is actually afraid of going to war with NATO countries. He doesn't want that. And we, of course, don't want it either," she added.

As reported, Estonia Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has refused to guarantee that the units of Estonia’s Defense Forces would not be deployed in Ukraine.