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Labour splits on defence burst into the open tonight over NATO’s role in defending allies against Russia.

Asked if RAF Top Guns should be pulled out of Estonia to ease tensions with Moscow, Jeremy Corbyn’s spokesman said: "There clearly needs to be a ratcheting down of tensions between the West and Russia.

“There’s dangers involved in that military escalation, particularly on the NATO-Russian border.”

Sources close to Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith said she was “absolutely furious” and “absolutely livid” at the spokesman’s intervention.

Four Typhoon fighters are stationed in the former Communist bloc country as part of a NATO mission to protect its airspace from Kremlin warplanes.

But the Labour leader's spokesman refused to say if he supported the British jets's deployment or whether they should be withdrawn.

He also refused to confirm a UK government with Mr Corbyn as Prime Minister would defend Estonia if Russia invaded.

(Image: Trinity Mirror)

A total of 800 British soldiers are being sent to Estonia this spring, with another 150 to Poland, to beef-up NATO’s eastern flank.

Criticising “military tensions in eastern Europe”, Mr Corbyn’s spokesman called for a “wind down” rather than a build up of armed forces in the region.

Hours earlier, Ms Griffith had given an interview hailing Labour’s commitment to NATO – and backed the British troops’ deployment to eastern Europe.

She told Forces TV: “I think it’s very, very important that we now play a very strong role in NATO, particularly as we are leaving the European Union.

(Image: South Wales Echo)

“I think it’s very important for NATO to be absolutely clear, following what has happened in Ukraine, that we are standing together as NATO nations and there is no way that we would tolerate any attack on any one of our member states.

“I think that’s why it’s so important that we have this partnership work now with the three Baltic States and Poland.

“We are going to be particularly involved in both Poland and Estonia and it was clear from my talks with people out in Estonia that they very much welcome this partnership.

“They have huge respect for the British military, they have worked with us in Afghanistan and they have already had some air support from us in the past.

(Image: Getty)

“I think that this is going to be a very sensible and fruitful partnership, and it’s going to be a very clear message to Russia – a defensive message, not an aggressive message – but saying quite clearly, NATO is alive and well and we are going to look after each other.”

Unveiling the troops’ deployment last November, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said they would deter aggression in Baltic states formerly part of the Soviet Union.

“The whole point of forward deployment to Estonia is to arrange ... an earlier tripwire so the force there doesn’t have to wait for tension to escalate,” he told MPs.

But Mr Corbyn’s spokesman said the Labour leader had “concerns” about the mission, adding it was “one of the escalations of tension that have taken place”.

He also refused to confirm that Britain would come to Estonia’s aid if Russian tanks rolled over the border.

Under NATO’s Article V, an attack on one member country can trigger collective defence measures.

But Mr Corbyn’s spokesman said: “Article V means that if there is an attack on another NATO state there has to be a response called for by other NATO members.

(Image: Getty)

“It doesn’t define what that response should be.

“As you can see from the wording of the Treaty, that can be a whole range of different things.

“What we are looking for is a reduction of tension and a negotiated engagement.”

Experts have raised fears of a new Cold War between Russia and the West following Vladimir Putin’s annexation of the Crimea and support for rebel forces in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Russian submarines have been lurking off the UK coast trying to track Royal Navy ships and subs, while Kremlin bombers have been buzzing UK air defences.

Quick Reaction Alert Typhoons have been scrambled from bases in Lincolnshire and Scotland to shadow the Russian planes.