Russian troops ‘could sweep through eastern Europe in just 60 HOURS’ if Russian president gives the order. thesun

RUSSIA could swat aside Nato troops in just 60 HOURS, terrified US defence chiefs have warned.

US defence chiefs fear that Vladimir Putin could sweep through the Baltic states in just 60 hours should Russia go to war and invade

Russia’s fearsome military arsenal includes hundreds of tanks station along the giant country’s border with the former Soviet Union members

The warning comes as the US showed off its incredible military prowess as a B-52 bomber flies in formation with a dozen fighter jets over the Baltic

Depleted armed forces in the Baltic could struggle to hold off Russians reaching Estonian and Latvian capitals Tallinn and Riga should they go to war.

But US chiefs have pledged to invest heavily in the region to ward off growing Russian aggression.

Speaking about a US-funded report which quoted the 60-hour mark, Michael Carpenter, deputy assistant secretary of defence for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, said: “I don’t know that we’re significantly more advanced now than when the RAND Corporation report came out.

“But I’m confident by the end of 2017, when we have an additional armoured brigade combat team worth of force posture on the eastern flank of the alliance, that we will be.”

The report, published in February had said Nato would not be able to “successfully defend the territory of its most exposed members”.

But as the US announced plans to quadruple its spending in the region, Carpenter added: “Russia clearly possesses a time-distance advantage, if it were to decide to be an aggressor in the Baltic states.

“We are making the investments… to have forces pre-positioned, along with more fighting equipment, so that we are better able to deter Russian aggression in the first place.”

The USA has pledged to quadruple its spending in the region to stave off the Russian threat

US chiefs have announced they will invest in the Baltic region to counter the threat of Russian aggression. Putin’s tank brigades are pictured in training drills

The investment comes over fears the tanks would be in the capitals of Latvia and Estonia within 60 hours in the event of an attack

An attack by Russia on a Nato member would compel each of the other signatories to defend the invaded nation

Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined Nato in 2004.

In theory, membership means that if one Nato member is attacked, all fellow members will step up to defend them.

But Russian aggression in the Ukraine following the annexation of Crimea in 2014 has increased worries that president Vladimir Putin may now turn his attentions to the Baltic which once formed a part of the Soviet Union.

Speaking about Nato military manoeuvres in Poland earlier this week, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it “does not contribute to the atmosphere of trust and security on the continent”.

America gave a dazzling show of strength as images of a giant B-52 bomber taking part in the operation straddled by a dozen fighter jets emerged.

culled from thesun