NATO concerned with increased Russian military activity in European airspace

NATO has reported more Russian military flights and intercepts over the Baltics, North Sea and Atlantic, just days after it picked up "an unusual level" of activity over European airspace. 

These stepped-up flights included "Russian fighters, long-range bombers and tanker aircraft", according to NATO military spokesman Colonel Martin Downie, and are aggravating security concerns in Europe and the United States is watching them very closely, the Pentagon said on Friday.

Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said Russian military planes carried out more flights on Friday over the Baltics, North Sea and Atlantic Ocean, part of what NATO has said is an unusual burst of air activity by Moscow.

"We certainly don't see these increased flights and activity as helpful to the security situation in Europe," Kirby said. "What we'd ask authorities in Russia to do is to take steps, concrete tangible steps, to reduce tension, not increase it."

The "sheer number and size and scope" of the flights also could pose a potential risk to civil aviation, he told a Pentagon press briefing.

In one incident, two Russian TU-95 nuclear capable bombers flew west of Britain and down to Portugal, escorted by Norwegian, British and Portuguese fighter aircraft, Downie said. No violations of NATO airspace were detected, he added.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg had said on Friday that the US-led military alliance remained vigilant given the increase in such activity. "We are not in a Cold War situation but Russia has undermined a lot of trust. We must keep NATO strong," he said against a backdrop of continued tensions over Ukraine.

NATO said in a statement on Wednesday its jets had tracked and intercepted four groups of Russian warplanes "conducting significant military manoeuvres" on Tuesday and Wednesday. "These sizeable Russian flights represent an unusual level of air activity over European airspace," it said.

A spokesman stressed there had been no violation of NATO airspace - as there was last week when a Russian spy plane briefly crossed Estonia's border. But such high numbers of sorties in one day were, he said, rare in recent years.

NATO says that so far this year it has launched more than 100 intercepts of Russian aircraft, three times more than in all 2013.

The escalation of flights follows months of tension over Ukraine and Rear Admiral Kirby also urged Moscow to "do the right thing and meet its international obligations to respect the territorial integrity of its neighbors".

President Vladimir Putin has committed to reinvigorating Russia's armed forces, which were undermined by the economic troubles that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.