Pence talks of possible US Patriot missile deployment in little Estonia, rattled by Russian expansionism

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US soldiers stand behind a US surface-to-air anti-missile “Patriot” launcher at the Sauliai air base in Lithuania last week. A possible deployment in fellow Baltic state Estonia is also under discussion with the US, according to Estonia’s prime minister. Photo: EPA

Published: 1:30pm, 31 Jul 2017Updated: 10:45pm, 31 Jul 2017

US Vice-President Mike Pence on Sunday raised the possibility of deploying the Patriot anti-missile defence system in Estonia, one of three Nato Baltic states worried by Russian expansionism, Prime Minister Juri Ratas said.

“We spoke about it today, but we didn’t talk about a date or time,” Ratas told state broadcaster ERR after Pence began a visit to the tiny frontline state.

The Patriot is a mobile, ground-based system designed to intercept incoming missiles and warplanes.

“We talked about the upcoming [Russian military] manoeuvres near the Estonian border ... and how Estonia, the United States and Nato should monitor them and exchange information,” Ratas said.

Relations between Moscow and Tallinn have been fraught since Estonia broke free from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1991, joining both the EU and Nato in 2004 - a move that Russia says boosted its own fears of encirclement by the West.

US Vice President Mike Pence (right) listens to Estonia’s Prime Minister Juri Ratas in Tallinn, Estonia, on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Concern in Estonia and fellow Baltic states Latvia and Lithuania surged after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and stepped up military exercises.