Russia views Estonia’s readiness to host NATO fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons as direct threat

(MENAFN) Russia views Estonia’s readiness to host NATO fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons as a direct threat to its national security, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

Peskov was responding to statements by Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur, who recently said that F-35 fighter jets, which can be equipped with nuclear arms, have already been deployed in Estonia and are expected to return as part of NATO’s rotational presence. Peskov criticized Estonia’s position as “absurd” and described relations between Moscow and Tallinn as already being at rock bottom.

Estonia, along with fellow Baltic states Latvia and Lithuania, has hosted NATO air patrols since joining the alliance in 2004, citing its limited air defense capabilities. Moscow has long condemned NATO’s eastward expansion, accusing the bloc of breaking post-Cold War assurances.

At the recent NATO summit in The Hague, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed plans to purchase 12 F-35A jets, marking Britain’s return to maintaining an airborne nuclear deterrent since the 1990s.

While the US, UK, and France are NATO’s only official nuclear powers, American nuclear weapons remain stationed in other allied nations. Moscow argues that US-led NATO training for nuclear missions violates non-proliferation principles.

Citing growing NATO activity near its borders, Russia has deployed tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus and conducted joint exercises with Belarusian forces last year.

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