Rishi Sunak served Christmas lunch to troops in Estonia as he praised them for their “selfless dedication and bravery” in a year where the world was rocked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Prime Minister spoke to UK servicemen and women stationed at the Tapa military base on Nato’s flank with Russia.

He handed out the festive meals alongside his Estonian counterpart Kaja Kallas, and shared mince pies with soldiers afterwards.

The troops Mr Sunak met included the King’s Royal Hussars, an armoured cavalry regiment equipped with intimidating Challenger 2 tanks. The King’s Royal Hussars took over the rotating leading role in Nato’s enhanced forward presence multi-national battlegroup in Estonia in the autumn.

More than 1,000 British armed forces personnel are deployed across Estonia and Poland as part of Operation Cabrit.

The UK doubled its presence in Estonia in response to the build-up of Russian forces around Ukraine earlier this year.

But the footprint will be nearly halved next year as some forces are redeployed to other countries while the remaining troops have more weapons at their disposal.

The Prime Minister said: “This year, we have seen a full-scale war return to our continent, and I am immensely proud of the selfless dedication and bravery of our Armed Forces who responded to that threat to keep the UK and our allies safe.

“As thousands of our military personnel prepare to spend Christmas on deployment, I know that this year of all years we will not take their sacrifice, or the sacrifice of their loved ones, for granted.

“Christmas, after all, is a time for peace, and as alongside our allies, we’ll continue to support our Ukrainian and European friends in pursuit of a return of that peace.”

Mr Sunak began his whistlestop trip to the Baltic states in Riga, Latvia, earlier on Monday.

There, he called on fellow leaders of northern European nations to stand firm in their support for Ukraine at a summit of the Joint Expeditionary Force.