The US and Lithuania are discussing locating a US missile defence base in the former Soviet state, in a move likely to deepen Russian opposition to the plans.

The preliminary contacts with Vilnius come after months of negotiations with Poland, which have so far failed to secure a breakthrough. Those talks have been complicated by tensions with Russia - which says that the US's plans to locate 10 missile interceptors in Warsaw and a radar base in the Czech Republic would affect its strategic deterrent.