RUSSIAN intelligence services have claimed Estonian militants have been helping to supply arms to the IRA.
The FSB, successor to the Soviet KGB, alleges the IRA repeatedly bought rifles and explosives in Estonia, according to the ITAR-TASS news agency.
The FSB did not say where the weapons came from but claimed they were bought with the help of members of the extremist Estonian organisation, Kaitselite.
Moscow has previously accused Estonian organisations of supplying weapons to Chechnya to arm rebels in the breakaway Caucasian republic who have been fighting Russian forces since December 1994.
Sinn Fein refused to comment on the FSB claims. However, Mr Ian Paisley jar, of the DUP, said he was not surprised by the reports.
"A fortnight after the IRA ceasefire, the DUP said that eastern European weapons had been supplied to the IRA and were continuing to be supplied.
"Our statement was based on information from British intelligence. Yet the media ridiculed our claims. Now they have been confirmed by other sources."
Mr Paisley jar said it was up to the British government to respond firmly to the reports.
"The British government knows what the IRA is up to, but what is it going to do about it?
"The government must not continue with this phoney, hoax peace process. Instead, it must accept that the only way to make peace is to conquer the terrorists."