Estonia has completed negotiations with Russia regarding navigation buoys in Narva: they have not yielded any results

Estonia is suspending negotiations with Russia regarding navigation buoys on the Narva River, as efforts to reach an agreement with Moscow on their location have failed, the press service of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.

On May 23, 2024, the Russian border service unilaterally removed 25 buoys from the Narva River that Estonia had installed to facilitate navigation.

The Deputy Secretary General for Legal and Consular Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country, Kerli Veski, reported that Estonia has been trying for a year in various ways to reach an agreement with Russia regarding the incident, but to no avail.

"Russia did not agree to a joint measurement of the riverbed to clarify the location of the fairway, and therefore the line of control, and also did not provide us with an answer as to where they have disagreements," the official said.

Veski said that this spring, Estonia again submitted a proposal for an agreement on the location of buoys, but this also did not lead to a constructive outcome.

"Therefore, we have decided to stop negotiations with Russia on navigation buoys, as they are unpromising," she stressed.

Deputy Director General for Border Management of the Estonian Police and Border Guard Department, Veiko Kommusaar, stated that Russia's reluctance to engage in constructive cooperation on the installation of navigation buoys complicates navigation on the Narva River, so when sailing on the river, one must be careful not to go beyond Estonian waters.

He explained that Estonia will not install buoys on the river during the summer months as this would only cause confusion.

"We tried to reach an agreement with the Russian border guards on the installation of all the buoys, but no constructive discussion took place. However, this summer we will increase the number of patrols in the area to respond more quickly to illegal border crossings," Kommusaar said.

Veski added that the temporary line of control between Estonia and Russia, which is also the NATO and European Union line of control, remains in place and there will be no changes.

• On May 23, 2024, it was reported that Russian border guards removed buoys installed in Estonian waters from Narva, which are used to mark the shipping lane.
• On May 13, 2025, a Russian fighter jet violated Estonian airspace for the first time since the beginning of the year.