Downing Street has invited 18 European nations to the defense summit on Sunday, but Estonia, as well as Latvia and Lithuania, are not on the list, despite being key eastern flank nations and contributing a higher proportion of GDP per year on defense, compared with some of the 18 at the table.

Speaking to Aktuaalne kaamera, Chair of the Riigikogu's Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson (Reform) said: "I think that all meetings of this kind held by the U.K., where the security of our continent is at stake and where these same leaders occasionally note that if we fail to stop Russia in Ukraine, the Baltic states could be the next to be at risk; I believe that in this context, it is absolutely unavoidable that we should also be physically present at these meetings."

"I know that our diplomats are working towards this end, but the fact remains that the optics on this do not look very good," Mihkelson went on.

The MP further expressed dissatisfaction with the format of communication, arguing that virtual consultations are not an adequate substitute for face-to-face meetings.

"Personally, I do not like this," Mihkelson added.

"I know that consultations are also taking place virtually, as was the case with the meeting with [French President Emmanuel] Macron, via video link, while a great deal of communication also takes place [in this way] within the EU context."

"For example, foreign ministers will meet extraordinarily next week, as will the heads of government at the European Council," Mihkelson continued.

While Estonia, Latvia, or Lithuania have not been invited to the London meeting, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to hold a phone conversation with the leaders of all three countries on Sunday morning, the same day the summit takes place.

The significance of Starmer's opting to do this remains unclear—be it an apparent diplomatic slight, a logistical necessity, or something else.

Starmer, who last visited Tallinn for the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) summit in December, announced the London meeting on Thursday during a press conference at the White House alongside Donald Trump.

The U.K. premier said that representatives from 18 European countries had been invited to discuss the ongoing war, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will also be present.

While Starmer's recent official visit to Washington has been heralded in the media as diplomatically a success, this was less the case on Ukraine specifically.

Observers noted that Starmer got no decision on potential tariffs on the U.K. by the U.S., was cut off mid-sentence at the same press conference while talking about Canada, and had to face Trump jokingly questioning if Britain would be able to militarily hold off Russia on its own.

Vice President J.D. Vance had also grilled the U.K. prime minister on free speech more broadly in the U.K., while the president tied this more specifically to how policies in this area affect U.S. tech firms like Apple.

Given the pace that things are moving at, that meeting has already been eclipsed in the media by the same Trump-Vance double act's ill-tempered exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who visited the White House a day later, Friday.

Zelenskyy is invited to the London summit.

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