US criticises Russia build-up near Baltics

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said yesterday that a Russian missile deployment near the Baltic states was "destabilising", and officials suggested the United States could deploy a Patriot missile battery in the region for Nato exercises in the summer.

US allies are jittery ahead of war games by Russia and Belarus in September that could involve up to 100,000 troops and include nuclear weapons training -- the biggest such exercise since 2013.

The drills could see Russian troops near the borders of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Russia has also deployed Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, its enclave on the Baltic Sea. It said the deployment was part of routine drills, but US officials worry that it may represent a permanent upgrade.

Asked during a trip to Lithuania about the deployment, Mattis told a news conference: "Any kind of build-up like that is simply destabilising."

The United States is ruling out any direct response to the Russian drills or the Iskander deployment.

But at the same time, US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, raised the possibility that a Patriot missile battery could be deployed briefly to the Baltic region during Nato exercises in July that focus on air defence, known as Tobruk Legacy.

The officials stressed that the Patriots, if deployed, would be withdrawn when the exercises were over. That would most likely happen before the Russian drills began, they said.

Mattis declined to comment directly on the possible Patriot deployment to reporters after talks in Vilnius.