Meanwhile, more than 2,000 Estonian soldiers are participating in the ongoing 2018 NATO Saber Strike that are held in several Eastern European countries, Estonia’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
"Over 2,000 Estonian servicemen from the 1st infantry brigade of the Defence Forces as well as the servicemen from the United States, the United Kingdom and Finland, which is not a member of NATO," the ministry said.
As the military maneuvers are taking place near Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that the Russian authorities have been monitoring the drills.
"Moscow watches closely all the maneuvers held within the NATO framework, especially the ones that at some point are held near our borders," Peskov told reporters answering a question if Moscow was concerned over the Saber Strike 2018 multinational exercise held by NATO.
NATO has significantly increased its presence in Eastern Europe after the eruption of the Ukrainian crisis in 2014, using the alleged Russian interference in Ukrainian internal affairs as a pretext. Moscow has repeatedly voiced its protest over NATO's military buildup, saying that it will undermine regional stability and result in a new arms race.