NATO’s Russia warning: Europe must beef up air patrols in preparation for WAR

EUROPE must beef up its air patrols along Russia's border in response to the worst tensions with Moscow since the Cold War, NATO'S top commander has said.

The military alliance's current force includes just eight jets patrolling the skies over the Baltics, and NATO chiefs have admitted this would not be enough were conflict to arise.

NATO is planning its biggest build-up in eastern Europe since the Cold War to counter what the alliance consider to be a more aggressive Russia.

That could include a permanent presence of battalion-sized deployments of allied troops across Eastern Europe.

At a press conference in Lithuania, the country's chief of defence Jonas Zukas said: "We no longer want multi-national forces to be present only as a measure of assurance or for political visibility.

"We want forces of deterrence, with a clear understanding that they would engage in case of a conventional attack.

"The air defence problem is real. It is obvious that in case of a military conflict neither four nor eight jets would be enough."

Among the countries requesting beefed up defence are Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The Baltics are also benefiting from around 600 US troops who have been present there since April 2014.

Moscow denies any intention to attack the Baltic states but its recent annexation of Crimea in 2014 fuelled worries that Moscow is planning further land grabs.

Philip Breedlove, outgoing NATO's supreme allied commander in Europe, said: "I think that the alliance does need to be ready for the air defence mission, and of course we as military men and women are looking at that capability.

"Air policing and air defence are meant for two different situations. The Baltic air policing is a peacetime mission."