Nuclear-weapon endorser
Did not participate in TPNW negotiations
Has not yet joined TPNW
Estonia supports the retention and potential use of nuclear weapons on its behalf, as indicated by its endorsement of various alliance statements of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), of which it is a member.
Estonia has not yet signed or ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. It did not participate in the negotiation of the treaty at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and thus did not vote on its adoption.
Estonia voted against a UN General Assembly resolution in 2019 that welcomed the adoption of the treaty and called upon "all states that have not yet done so to sign, ratify, accept, approve, or accede to the treaty at the earliest possible date".
On the opening day of the TPNW negotiating conference in 2017, it joined the United States and several other states in protesting the treaty-making process.
In 2016, Estonia voted in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence the negotiations in 2017 on "a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination". However, it later informed the UN secretariat that it had intended to vote against.
In a "non-paper" sent to NATO members ahead of the vote, the United States "strongly encourage[d]" members, including Estonia, to vote against the resolution, "not to merely abstain". In addition, it said that, if the treaty negotiations do commence, allies and partners should "refrain from joining them".
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