BERLIN, (Reuters) – Germany might deploy additional troops in Lithuania to ease tensions over Russia’s buildup of military forces near Ukraine.

Lambrecht, in an interview to the Funke media group that will be published online Sunday and in papers Monday, stated that Germany had already made an “important contribution in Lithuania” as it led a NATO battlegroup.

She stated that additional troops were available to reinforce the army as a matter principle and she was in contact with Lithuania right now in order to determine what would be most appropriate.

Russia denied plans to invade Ukraine. However, Russia maintains that it has many thousands of troops within its border. This led the United States of America to send about 3,000 troops in an order to strengthen NATO’s eastern flanks in Poland and Romania.

This Saturday saw the arrival of the U.S. military troops at Rzeszow, a base located in southern Poland.

NATO already has four multilateral combat units, totaling around 5,000 soldiers, in Poland, Lithuania Latvia, Estonia and Latvia. The units were created in response to Moscow’s 2014 annexe of Crimea from Ukraine.

The so-called NATO Battlegroups are led by Canada, the United States and Britain. They are designed to stop an attack on the region and allow additional NATO troops time to get to the frontline.

On Saturday, two U.S. officials stated that Russia had about 70% of its combat power in place for an invasion of Ukraine.

After Ukraine’s Embassy in Germany had sent an email with specific requests, Lambrecht once again denied that Kyiv would be supplied with arms.

This list contained electronic warfare tools, missile defense systems, and night vision equipment.