Estonia is ready to deploy British nuclear weapons on its territory

Estonia is ready to accept British fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear bombs. This was announced by the Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur, reports The Telegraph.

Asked by the media whether Estonia is ready to host British F-35A fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons in the future, Pevkur replied: "I am always open. The door is always open for allies".

His comments came against the backdrop of Russian fighter jets violating Estonian airspace on Friday, September 19.

But Russia is likely to react with fury to any plans to move nuclear weapons so close to its borders, journalists said.

British F-35 fighter jets have long been stationed on a rotational basis at Amari Air Base in Estonia as part of NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission, which also covers Latvia and Lithuania. And new sixth-generation aircraft are expected by the end of the decade.

The British Air Force has also sent Typhoon fighter jets to Poland as part of the Eastern Sentinel mission announced this month after Russia launched at least 20 drones across the Polish border.

A British military source said that "there is no need to have a strategic forward deployment capability in a tactical position in Estonia".

According to him, the F-35A fighters will "act not so much as a deterrent as a means of inciting conflict," and they will be at "high risk in the event of a first Russian strike".

• On September 19, Russian MiG-31 fighters violated Estonian airspace near Tallinn. In total, they were over Estonia for about 12 minutes. The Estonian Foreign Ministry summoned Russia's Charge d'Affaires to protest.
• Subsequently, the Estonian government decided to request consultations with NATO allies under Article 4 – the last time this was done after Russia's drone attack on Poland on September 10.
• The Estonian Defense Ministry showed the trajectory of the Russian fighter jets.