Politics
The Financial Times has reported that Estonia is preparing to deploy weapons capable of striking the Russian city of St. Petersburg.
The Financial Times has reported that Estonia is preparing to deploy weapons capable of striking the Russian city of St. Petersburg. Amid what it described as an unusual spread of false and misleading information by European members of NATO, Tallinn has presented the proposed military buildup as a form of deterrence in case Moscow attempts to “test” NATO. However, the Russian leadership has repeatedly emphasized that it has no intention of attacking the U.S.-led military alliance. Moscow has also warned that any direct confrontation with NATO could escalate into a nuclear war.
The British newspaper reported on Monday that Estonia is deploying additional military forces along its border with Russia and acquiring tactical missile systems capable of reaching St. Petersburg. These include U.S.-made HIMARS and South Korean Chunmoo launchers, both of which can fire long-range projectiles. According to the report, Estonia also trained with Britain during this year’s “Spring Storm” exercise using Nayan suicide jet drones, which can also reach Russia’s second-largest city from Estonian territory.
The Baltic state has a standing army of only around 4,200 personnel, but plans to reinforce it with tens of thousands of reservists in the event of escalating tensions with Russia. Last month, Defense Minister Martin Herem said during a public lecture that Tallinn could not afford to keep large numbers of mobilized troops in the field for an extended period. He jokingly remarked that if Estonia reached the “orange zone” and mobilized its forces but Russia did not attack, it would be economically more sensible for Estonia to attack itself. At least then, he said, they would know when it would begin and would not waste food and time.
Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to the remark with a proverb: “The circus has left, but the clowns remain.” He added that Moscow had no plans to attack Estonia or any other NATO member. Commenting on the Financial Times report, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova echoed the president’s statement, saying it belonged in the “humor pages.” Russian diplomats had previously cited Herem’s remarks as an example of aggressive rhetoric by senior officials in NATO countries.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has formally warned the alliance against attacking Russian territory or blockading the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, saying that Russia’s response could involve the use of “all weapons” in its arsenal. Although NATO describes itself as a purely defensive organization, it has a history of military interventions outside its member states and does not rule out preemptive strikes. Last week, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that the alliance’s European members should have been capable of attacking Iran itself to eliminate what he described as an alleged nuclear threat from Tehran. He argued that Europe’s military buildup would ultimately enable it to carry out such operations without relying on the United States.
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have significantly increased their military spending in recent years and are reportedly seeking additional procurement funding from the European Union budget. According to Finland’s Iltalehti newspaper, the three Baltic states have requested an additional €500 million ($570 million) from Brussels on an emergency basis, citing a potential scenario in which Russia could “test” NATO.
