U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said Lithuania would be a good missile site if a deal with Poland fails. That followed talks in Washington with the Lithuanian Prime Minister. But Gates stressed that Poland remains the preferred country for the U.S

The negotiations with Warsaw have stalled in a dispute over the extent of U.S. assistance to upgrade the Polish army.

Meanwhile, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has once again stressed that U.S. plans for missile defence bases in Eastern Europe threaten the region's security. Lavrov made the comments during a trip to Turkey for talks on the Middle East and energy security.

“Our proposals for anti-missile defence bases are well known, we do hope that the U.S. will reconsider them. And as for the third base, our position hasn’t changed, we think the anti-radar base poses a threat to security in Europe and does not eliminate it,” the minister said.