Russian FM 'doesn't understand' Polish missiles

(AP) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he doesn't understand Poland's plans to station a battery of U.S. Patriot missiles near the border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Lavrov was reacting Friday to an announcement Wednesday by the Polish Defense Ministry saying a base with up to eight launch pads and manned by some 100 U.S. troops will be installed in the town 37 miles (60 kilometers) from the Poland-Kaliningrad border.

Poland says the missiles, to be installed in April, will be used to train the military.

Lavrov said he couldn't comprehend the need "to create the impression as if Poland is bracing itself against Russia."

Scrapped U.S. plans to position a missile defense system in Central Europe had angered Moscow, which accused Washington of undermining its national defense.