Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur has stated that Estonia is ready to host British fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons following the incursion of Russian jets into its airspace on Friday 19 September.

Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur has stated that Estonia is ready to host British fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons following the incursion of Russian jets into its airspace on Friday 19 September.

Source: The Telegraph, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Pevkur was asked whether Estonia would be prepared to host British F-35A fighter jets, which can carry nuclear weapons, in the future. He replied: “I’m always open. The door is always open for allies”.

At the same time, a British military source said there was “no need to have a strategic capability forward in a tactical position in Estonia”.

The source said that the F-35A jets would serve “not as a deterrence, more as an agitator” and would also be at “high risk in the case of a Russian first strike”.

NATO is set to hold consultations this week on its next steps following Russia’s violation of Estonian airspace.

The newspaper suggests that the Alliance is likely to reject calls to shoot down any Russian fighter jet that violates its borders.

Pevkur, in turn, said NATO’s response must be “proportionate” and decided on “a case-by-case basis”.

He added that the Russian MiG-31 jets that entered Estonian airspace on 19 September were “not flying towards our capital” and were not carrying weapons that posed “an acute threat to our sovereignty and national security”.

Under other circumstances, Estonia would not hesitate to shoot down Russian aircraft, the minister added.

Background:

During a UN Security Council meeting convened over the Estonian incident, UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper stated that NATO was ready to respond to violations of its airspace by Russian military aircraft.Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on NATO to take more decisive action in response to Russian airspace violations, up to and including “neutralising” hostile targets.Earlier, Czech President Petr Pavel expressed the belief that NATO must respond militarily to such violations by Russia.

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