Russia has declined to send observers to upcoming military manoeuvres involving tens of thousands of troops from NATO countries later this month in Norway, the Norwegian military said Thursday.

The largest Nato exercise planned for this year, Cold Response 2022 will bring together around 30,000 troops from 27 nations.

From mid-March to early April, they will train on land, at sea and in the air, deploying troops to help an attacked Nato country.

As usual, member states of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), including Russia, have been invited to send observers to follow the exercise, which was planned long before Russia's military offensive in Ukraine last week.

"Russia thanked for the offer to send observers during Cold Response 22 but declined," Norwegian army spokesman Preben Aursand told AFP.

The reasons for the refusal were not known.

Foreign troops have already arrived in Norway, going back several weeks, even months, and more are expected in the coming days.

The number of troops announced to participate has fluctuated: initially it was put at more than 40,000, it is now estimated at around 30,000.

"Some nations have chosen to use their troops in other ways," said Preben Aursand, without giving further details.

In addition to Nato members, Finland and Sweden, two nations that are officially non-aligned but where the debate over membership has been reignited by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, are both expected to send contingents.

The US and the UK will deploy one carrier battle group each during the exercise.

'Not too late to stop' UK defence minister tells Putin
Tallinn (AFP) March 3, 2022 –

British Defence Minister Ben Wallace on Thursday told Russian President Vladimir Putin it was "not too late to stop" the invasion of Ukraine.

The UK has taken a series of punitive actions against Moscow since Putin launched the attack last week, including sanctions on Russian banks.

"The message to President Putin is 'Stop. It isn't too late to stop what you are doing,'" Wallace said during a press conference with his Estonian counterpart Kalle Laanet.

The British minister described the Russian leader's actions as "illegal" and warned Putin he risked "being isolated for decades to come".

"The sanctions are heavy, the international community is united. NATO is united and we won't accept what we are seeing in Ukraine," Wallace said.

The UK would stand by Ukrainian government, he added, pointing to lethal and non-lethal aid provided to Kyiv from Britain and Estonia.

"This hasn't finished here. The consequences of what we're seeing in Ukraine will ripple through Europe and NATO for not just weeks, but months and years to come," Wallace warned.