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NATO to continue to identify Russian planes: Stoltenberg

Xinhua, June 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

NATO will continue to identify and intercept Russian planes as the country has increased its activity in much of the area around the alliance, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday.

"We will continue to identify and intercept Russian planes. But we should behave normally. As long as NATO is orderly, predictable and clear, it is good for everyone," Stoltenberg, who was on his first official visit to Norway as NATO chief, told the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.

"We see increased Russian activity in much of the area around NATO," Stoltenberg said. "It reaffirms the importance that we are present. Nobody wants in a situation that we see Russian planes and military forces operate without being identified."

Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister, arrived at Bodo airbase in northern Norway Wednesday afternoon to start a three-day visit. He was welcomed by Norwegian Minister of Defence Ine Eriksen Soreide.

At Bodo, NATO chief was briefed on Royal Norwegian Air Force capabilities and observed a practice scramble by F-16 fighter jets, according to a NATO press release.

On Thursday, Stoltenberg will meet with Crown Prince Haakon of Norway in the capital city of Oslo and later deliver a keynote speech at the University of Oslo. He will meet with Prime Minister Erna Solberg and other senior officials on Friday.

The NATO secretary general's visit came as a large air force exercise, named Arctic Challenge Exercise 2015 (ACE 15), was underway in Norway, Sweden and Finland from May 25 to June 5.

More than 100 jets from nine countries including the three Nordic nations as well as Switzerland, the Netherlands, Britain, France, Germany and the United States have participated in it. Except Finland, Sweden and Switzerland, all the other countries are NATO members.

On May 25, the Armed Forces of Russia launched a four-day snap drill to test combat readiness of the air and air defense units in the country's Central Military District (CMD) and about 12,000 troops, 250 aircraft and 689 pieces of military equipment were involved in the exercises. Endit