The United Kingdom's (UK) armed forces would be ready to fight their Russian counterparts "tonight" if Russian President Vladimir Putin invades another Eastern European nation, a top UK military chief said Thursday, Politico reports.

"If the British Army was asked to fight tonight, it would fight tonight," Rob Magowan, the deputy chief of the UK defense staff, told the House of Commons defense committee. "I don't think anybody in this room should be under any illusion that if the Russians invaded Eastern Europe tonight, then we would meet them in that fight."

Despite Magowan's tough talk, concerns remain about the UK's military capability in the event of a European escalation.

UK's land army is at its smallest size since the 1700s. Just last month, UK Defense Secretary John Healey said that the state of the armed forces was “far worse than we thought.”