NATO says its jets intercepted four groups of Russian aircraft in a period of approximately 24 hours between October 28 and 29.<br /><br />A spokesperson stressed that NATO airspace had not been violated, but added that such high numbers of sorties in a short space of time were rare.<br /><br />“These sizeable Russian flights represent an unusual level of air activity over European airspace,” an official from the alliance said.<br /><br />New Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke from Athens.<br /><br />“We are not in a Cold War situation, but the behaviour of Russia has undermined a lot of trust and has rolled back very much what we have tried to create as a more cooperative and constructive relationship between Russia and NATO ever since the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall,” he said.<br /><br />Between Tuesday and Wednesday, Russian bombers or jets were tracked over the Norwegian, North, Black and Baltic Seas, as well as the Atlantic Ocean.<br /><br />NATO described it as an ‘unusual burst of activity’, particularly during the Ukraine crisis, when East-West relations are strained. <br /><br />But German Chancellor Angela Merkel didn’t seem concerned about the exercises, saying:<br />“In the last few months, there has been a lot of activity in terms of Russian army exercises, but I am not acutely worried that a serious violation of airspace is taking place.”<br /><br />To date in 2014, 100 such checks on Russian aircraft have been made, NATO says. This is three times as many as in 2013, before relations with Moscow turned sour.
