"France is prepared to take part concretely in the surveillance of the airspace of the Baltic states," Alliot-Marie told a news conference after meeting her Latvian counterpart Atis Slakteris in Riga.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, three former Soviet republics which are neighbours of Russia, joined NATO on March 29 and lack the aircraft needed to protect their own airspace.

NATO aircraft are currently patrolling the airspace, with Dutch troops having taken over the duties from Belgium and then Denmark.

Alliot-Marie said France was also prepared to help stage a conference on patrolling Baltic airspace and to help train Latvian experts.

WAR.WIRE