MOSCOW (AFP, AP) - Russia said on Thursday that its return to the Soviet-era practice of sending strategic bombers on long-range flights was not a return to the Cold War.

"This isn't connected with thinking in terms of blocs or conflicts, let along a return to the Cold War," first deputy prime minister Sergei Ivanov said during a visit to Kemerovo in southern Siberia, news agency Itar-Tass reported.

"This is an ordinary working situation. There are no conflicts. We are flying by the same transparent, understandable rules as our American partners."

President Vladimir Putin announced last week that Russia was resuming regular bomber flights far beyond its borders, a practice that had stopped in 1992 as Russia's military crumbled following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russian bombers had been making increasingly frequent flights toward US territory in the lead-up to Putin's announcement, while Britain and Norway had repeatedly scrambled jets to intercept Russian planes near their airspace.

Ivanov said Russia had resumed the bomber flights "so Russian pilots can acquire professional experience... There is nothing at all to worry about." 

"Our Soviet bombers routinely flew such missions to areas from which nuclear-tipped cruise missiles could be launched at the United States, but stopped in the post-Soviet economic meltdown.

Booming oil prices over recent years have allowed Russia to sharply increase its military spending.

"Starting in 1992, the Russian Federation unilaterally suspended strategic aviation flights to remote areas," Putin said.

"Regrettably, other nations haven't followed our example. That has created certain problems for Russia's security."