Moscow, May 5 (RHC)-- Russia says it will engage in retaliatory measures if NATO continues its plans to deploy four extra battalions in Poland and the Baltic states.  Senior Russian Foreign Ministry official Andrei Kelin told reporters: "This would be a very dangerous build-up of armed forces close to our borders."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has announced that the alliance would deploy "battalion-sized" multinational units throughout eastern member states.  The proposal was initially made by U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter earlier this week, amidst rising tension between the U.S. and Russia in the Baltic region.

Tensions surged in recent weeks after the U.S. guided-missile destroyer USS Cook sailed close to a Russian naval base in the Baltic Sea, an action which resulted in the scrambling of Russian jets that buzzed the ship.

Earlier, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that three new military divisions would be formed by the end of this year to counter what Moscow saw as "the growing capacity of NATO forces in close proximity to the Russian borders."