LONDON (REUTERS, BLOOMBERG) - Nato is working on plans for a permanent military presence on its border in an effort to battle future Russian aggression, The Telegraph reported, citing the alliance's secretary-general, Mr Jens Stoltenberg.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is "in the midst of a very fundamental transformation" that will reflect "the long-term consequences" of Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions, Mr Stoltenberg said in an interview with the newspaper.

"What we see now is a new reality, a new normal for European security. Therefore, we have now asked our military commanders to provide options for what we call a reset, a longer-term adaptation of Nato," it cited Mr Stoltenberg as saying.

Mr Stoltenberg, who recently said he would extend his term as head of the alliance by a year, also said in the interview that decisions on the reset would be made at a Nato summit to be held in Madrid in June.

"We have the time now until the summit to make more longer-term decisions," Mr Stoltenberg was quoted as saying. "This is part of the reset which we have to make, which is to move from tripwire deterrence - which is the current concept - to something that is more about deterrence by denial or defence."

General Mark Milley, chairman of the United States joint chiefs of staff, told a congressional hearing on Tuesday (April 5) that he could envisage permanent Nato bases in countries such as Poland, Romania and the Baltic republics to host a rotating troop presence.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said this week there was no decision on "permanent basing forward or additional rotational forces in and out" or a combination of both. These are things that have to be worked out and "we'll work with Nato on this", he told a Senate hearing in Washington on Thursday.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has triggered Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II and led Western nations to rethink their defence policies.