The Russian Defence Ministry says it sent a fighter plane to intercept a US aircraft approaching its border over the Baltic Sea on Friday because the American plane had turned off its transponder, which is needed for identification.

However, the Pentagon said the US Air Force RC-135 plane had been flying a routine route in international airspace and the Russian SU-27 fighter had intercepted it in an "unsafe and unprofessional" way.

CNN reported the Russian jet had come within about 30 meters of the US plane and had performed a barrel roll.

"All flights of Russian planes are conducted in accordance with international regulations on the use of airspace," the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

"The US Air Force has two solutions: either not to fly near our borders or to turn the transponder on for identification."

Friday's incident underlines rising tensions between Russia and the United States over eastern Europe.

NATO has said it plans its biggest build-up in the region since the Cold War to counter what it considers to be a more aggressive Russia.

The Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which joined NATO in 2004, have requested higher and permanent presence of the alliance, fearing a threat from Russia after it annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.

The Kremlin denies any intentions to attack the Baltic countries, but it has often said that they have become an aggressive "Russophobic kernel" pushing NATO towards a consistently anti-Russian course.

"We are already starting to get used to the insults of the Pentagon regarding alleged 'unprofessional' manoeuvres when our fighters intercept US spy planes at the Russian border," the defence ministry said in its statement.

The incident follows what was described as a "simulated attack" on a US destroyer in the Baltic Sea earlier this month when Russian Sukhoi SU-24 bombers flew so close to the USS Donald Cook they created wake in the water, a US official said at the time.

It was one of the most aggressive interactions between the two former Cold War foes in recent memory, the official said, although the planes carried no visible weaponry.

A Russian KA-27 Helix helicopter also made passes around the vessel, taking pictures.

Reuters