European unity over the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is proving difficult to maintain in the face of the war’s impact on inflation and living standards across the continent, Estonia’s prime minister has said.

Kaja Kallas also criticised the French president, Emmanuel Macron, for trying to provide Vladimir Putin with a diplomatic way out of the conflict, saying the only effect was to give the Russian leader the belief that he will not be isolated or face justice for his army’s war crimes.

“We are at a point when sanctions start to hurt our side. At first the sanctions were only difficult for Russia but now we are coming to a point when the sanctions are painful for our own countries, and now the question is how much pain are we willing to endure. It is different for different countries. The unity is very hard to keep. It is getting more and more difficult because of high inflation, and energy prices. Gas might be expensive, but freedom is priceless. People living in the free world do not really understand that.

I am very worried by the premature calls for a ceasefire or peace, since a ceasefire does not mean the atrocities will end in the occupied territories. We have already made this mistake three times, in Georgia, Donbas and Crimea, and we cannot make this mistake again”, - she said.