WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's defense minister says he has held talks with US officials about having thousands of US troops permanently stationed as a deterrent in Poland.

Poland is concerned for its own and the region's security following Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, and other steps seen as hostile.

Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said Monday he recently held talks in Washington about having a permanent presence of US troops in Poland, where they are currently on a temporary, rotational mission. He said the US Senate has contacted the Pentagon on the subject.

The Onet.pl news portal says Poland is offering up to $2 billion to help build the infrastructure for the permanent deployment.

Poland and its neighbors in the Baltics — Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia — have all expressed concern about Russia. NATO-led battle groups have been deployed to each country. Lithuania has hosted 150 US troops since 2014, and in mid-2017 the country's president requested a permanent US presence "to not only deter but to defend" against possible threats.

A particularly worrying scenario for some in the region is Moscow closing the Suwalki Gap, a 60-mile-long section of the Poland-Lithuania border between Belarus, a Russian ally, and Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea. Such a move would cut off the Baltics from the rest of Europe.