Estonian Defense Minister Martin Herem said in an interview with ERR that NATO military personnel have been present in Ukraine since 2022. He said he first visited the country in July of that year, when he was serving as commander of the Estonian Defense Forces.

Herem said that during that visit he was near the front line in an Estonian military uniform, with the line of contact only a few kilometers from Kharkov.

He stressed that NATO personnel are not taking part in combat operations. According to Herem, their main purpose is to study battlefield experience. He said they do not use weapons, operate radar systems or directly participate in fighting.

Herem also said Estonia has no intention of crossing the Russian border or starting a war with Moscow, adding that Tallinn has never had such plans. At the same time, he said that if Estonia were attacked, the country would use what it had learned from the Ukrainian experience.

The Kremlin has repeatedly said that the deployment of EU and NATO military contingents in Ukraine is unacceptable to Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also said that he sees no need for foreign troops to remain in Ukraine after the conflict ends.

Putin has further stated that Moscow does not intend to attack NATO countries. According to him, Western politicians use the issue of a Russian threat to justify militarization and divert public attention from domestic problems.