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A former army chief says he and 50 other MEPs have put their signatures to a letter calling for the EU's Josep Borrell to quit.

Riho Terras, an Estonian MEP from the European People’s Party, is upset over Borrell's trip to Moscow last week, Euronews reports.

Borrell, the EU's foreign affairs chief, was in the Russian capital days after the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

While Borrell was meeting Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Moscow expelled three European diplomats for attending pro-Navalny rallies.

"The visit itself was a total disaster," Terras said in an interview with Euronews.

After Friday's press conference between Borrell and Lavrov, Terras drafted a highly critical letter addressed to Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, asking her to "take action if Mr Borrell does not resign by his own accord".

According to Terras, the letter has so far being signed by over 50 fellow MEPs belonging to different parties.

The text argues that Borrell "repeatedly failed to defend the European Union’s interest" and made false statements regarding EU sanctions.

Terras also castigates him for endorsing Sputnik V, Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine, and for attacking the EU's "principal ally, the United States, over Cuba".

Terras also takes aim at Borrell for not ending the trip when Russia expelled three EU diplomats - from Germany, Poland and Sweden.

"Russia showed everything possible to humiliate the EU’s highest diplomat," Terras told Euronews. "I understand you want to have a dialogue. But if one is playing ice hockey, the other cannot do figure dancing. And that’s what happened in Moscow: Russia's foreign minister played Mr Borrell around and humiliated him."

The MEP believes Borrell should follow the example of Phil Hogan, the former European Commissioner for Trade who resigned in August after attending a golf dinner in Ireland that contravened coronavirus restrictions. Terras believes Hogan committed "much lesser crimes" than Borrell.

Nevertheless, Terras admits that resigning from such an important office as that of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs, who is also a Vice-President of the European Commission, is going to be difficult. That is why he is demanding that his boss, President von der Leyen, approach the European Council and ask for Borrell's resignation.