Poland says it is bolstering its armed forces in the face of perceived Russian aggression, and says that is “has to be ready” for what it calls its greatest threat since the Cold War.

The Nato member, which borders the Russian military enclave Kaliningrad to the north and the authoritarian pro-Russian state Belarus to the east, has increased its defence spending by 18 per cent.

Speaking to Sky News in Warsaw, Poland’s defence minister Tomasz Siemoniak said his country must be prepared for Russia to look to expand in eastern Europe beyond its annexation of Crimea.

He said: “We can see that Russia is going in the direction of restoring the influence it had at the time of the Soviet Union.

“If that is the case then the situation is not over by any means with Crimea and it will move on to the territories of other countries, that will either be targeted by aggression or by some other measures taken by the Russian federation, so we have to be ready.”

Mr Siemoniak’s comments come as Russia issued a new travel blacklist for Western political figures in retaliation for economic sanctions imposed over the Ukraine crisis.

In pictures: EU politicians banned from entering Russia by the Kremlin Show all 6 1 /6 In pictures: EU politicians banned from entering Russia by the Kremlin In pictures: EU politicians banned from entering Russia by the Kremlin Nick Clegg Nick Clegg appears on a confidential Russian 'stop list' handed to the EU's ambassador by the authorities in Moscow PA In pictures: EU politicians banned from entering Russia by the Kremlin Malcolm Rifkind A Conservative former Foreign Secretary, who has been strongly in favour of sanctions against Moscow since the Russian annexation of Crimea. He says he is 'rather proud' to be on the Kremlin’s blacklist Getty In pictures: EU politicians banned from entering Russia by the Kremlin Daniel Cohn Bendit The former German Green Party MEP and leader of the French 1968 student protest movement has strongly criticised Russia’s actions in Ukraine. He has suggested a boycott of the 2018 World Cup, which is to be hosted by Russia AFP/Getty In pictures: EU politicians banned from entering Russia by the Kremlin Edward Mcmillan Scott A leading German conservative MP who earlier this year called Russia a 'warmonger'. He was due to discuss the Ukraine with Russian officials but was refused entry at Moscow airport last week. He said he suspected he was on a list of EU 'undesirables' In pictures: EU politicians banned from entering Russia by the Kremlin Karel Schwarzenberg A former Czech Foreign Minister. He said: 'When I saw the other names on the list, I found out I was in a very decent club' AFP/Getty In pictures: EU politicians banned from entering Russia by the Kremlin Bernard-Henri Levy French philosopher who backed Ukraine’s anti-Russian protest movement and has staged a play in Kiev criticising Moscow. He has said: 'Most people are disgusted by Putin’s mischief' AFP/Getty

And in a further deterioration of diplomatic relations between Russia and the West, Moscow’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov described the EU’s criticism of the travel bans as “absurd”.

“The reverse sanctions that were introduced applied to officials who have been most active in supporting the state coup that led to the start of persecution and discrimination of Russians in Ukraine," Lavrov told a news conference, confirming Russia had drawn up the list.

"With the EU introducing its restrictions on some 150 Russians, I think, we did the same for a considerably smaller number of EU member states' citizens," he said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the bloc's reaction had been "difficult to understand".

Russia denies Western accusations of direct military involvement in east Ukraine and accuses the West of orchestrating protests in Kiev that led to the overthrow of a Ukrainian president favoured by Moscow in February last year.

Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine a month later, saying it must protect the rights of Russian-speakers there. It says the separatist uprising that followed in east Ukraine was provoked by fears over a threat to Russian-speakers from the new "illegitimate" authorities in Kiev.

More than 6,100 people have died in fighting between Kiev's forces and Russia-backed rebels in east Ukraine.