Prince William kicks off major trip to visit troops on NATO's frontline with Russia

Prince William has been warmly welcomed by Estonia's president as he kicked off a two-day trip to show his support for Russia's neighbour in the face of Putin’s aggression. The Prince of Wales was all smiles as he shook hands with Alar Karis at the Presidential Palace Kadriorg.

He arrived at 2.35pm local time and walked up a grand staircase where the President showed him the gardens through the window. They then smiled and shook hands with each other, before the Prince was directed to sign the guest book with a gold pen. President Alar Karis joked: "Hopefully the pen will work." Prince William replied "oh hopefully" before explaining: "I’m left handed."

He sat at an oak table on a navy blue chair that was embroidered with gold flowers and gold stripes. Next to the table were the flags of Estonia and the United Kingdom.

He walked through the oak-panelled Presidential doors and headed into the 100-year-old Palace’s Blue Cabinet room to have his meeting. They had tea, coffee and a selection of small sweet treats.

President Karis explained: "We did fight for our independence. And later on as well with Afghanistan, and now. With British troops at Tapa we really, we really appreciate it. He added: "This morning the Defence Minister said he’d probably send some troops to Ukraine. Hopefully some of these troops will stay also."

A Kensington Palace spokesperson said it is an "important meeting for the Prince to highlight the strong bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and Estonia". They added: "The meeting also allows His Royal Highness the opportunity to applaud Estonia’s strong support for Ukraine since the conflict with Russia. It is also yet another example of the Prince of Wales representing the United Kingdom at the highest level on the global stage."

Also on arrival at the President’s office today, the Prince was greeted by a group of young children from Tallinn Lotte Kindergarten. They presented him with a cuddly dog called Lotte, which is a character in one of Estonia’s most famous children’s stories, as well as a card for his three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

Estonia is on NATO's front line with Russia, with British troops working with allies to provide a deterrent to aggression in the region. William's trip is made predominantly in his role as Colonel-in-Chief of the Mercian Regiment which is taking over Nato defence duties in the country from the Royal Dragoon Guards.

The country's defence minster Hanno Pevkur told ITV News: "The reality is we cannot change our neighbour – our neighbour is very hostile towards its neighbours, this is our response to how Russia is acting at the moment."

Tomorrow, William will travel to Tapa Army Base where British forces are stationed ready to defend Nato’s eastern flank and meet soldiers from his regiment and Estonian troops. The British forces at Tapa are the UK’s largest permanent overseas deployment and there are around 800 UK service personnel in total in Estonia.

William’s visit comes as Europe's major nations including the UK prepare to step up spending on their armed forces in response to the changing world order ushered in by US President Donald Trump.

Russia is seen as a growing threat in the region following its three-year long invasion of Ukraine, and the Baltic states – Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia – which border Russian President Vladimir Putin's nation appear increasingly concerned. President Karis has been prominent among those giving military equipment and political support to Ukraine. Later on Thursday the prince will also visit a school founded by the Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia in May 2022 to respond to the war in Ukraine.

He will meet teachers from Ukraine to hear about their experiences at the school, and how they have helped students settle in Tallinn and looked after their mental wellbeing. The prince founded his Earthshot Prize to help recognise and scale-up solutions to repair the planet, and he will also attend an event to learn about renewable energy start-ups.

The trip will be a solo one for William, who will be travelling to Estonia without wife the Princess of Wales, who is continuing her gradual return to duties following her cancer treatment.