PHOTO: A Russian TU-95 “Bear” surveillance plane is intercepted by a British Typhoon fighter off the UK coast (RAF/EPA)

There was a flutter in the British press on Thursday over two Russian TU-95 surveillance aircraft which were escorted away by British fighter jets after they flew too close to the United Kingdom’s airspace.

The coverage whipped up the prospect of threat and a new Cold War by identifying the planes as “bombers”, as Prime Minister David Cameron said Russian President Vladimir Putin was “trying to make a point”.

In fact, “Moscow’s bombers” are only a diversion — the Russians have been carrying out spy flights for decades off Britain’s coast, just as British, US, and NATO aircrafts have been watching Russia.

The big story continues to be Ukraine, where a ceasefire came and went quickly last weekend. Britain’s Defense Minister Michael Fallon postured on Thursday that Putin best not think of moving on NATO members Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia — a statement which is likely to backfire.

I talked through the situation on Thursday afternoon with BBC Coventry.

Listen to item from 1:17.24 and interview from 1:19.17

[The British statement] is drawing another line in the sand. But I think it’s a counter-productive statement.

By saying this, Fallon is implicitly giving the signal — whether or not he means it — “We’re probably going to give up eastern Ukraine. We may not be able to help Ukraine defend its eastern territory [against separatists and Russia]. Instead, we are going to draw this new line around the Baltic States.”

The Russians will be quite pleased.

So how could pressure be put on Russia’s Putin?

There are two ways to do it. The US, Britain, and NATO members are giving up on the first, which is to give arms to the Ukraine armed forces, who have been besieged by separatists in the east.

If you’re not going to do that, you have to express political support for Ukraine while putting economic pressure on Russia and maintaining sanctions.

It’s a race against time. Which comes first: will the Russians succeed in breaking up Ukraine, or will it find the effort is too expensive?