FILE PHOTO: Russian ambassador to NATO Alexander Grushko addresses a news conference after the NATO-Russia Council at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, July 13, 2016. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday that a new NATO plan to step up its combat readiness in Europe would worsen security on the continent and that Moscow would factor it into its own military planning, the Interfax news agency reported.

Western officials said last week that the United States was pressing its European allies to get more NATO battalions, ships and planes ready for combat, in a fresh move to shore up NATO’s deterrence against any Russian attack.

Interfax cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko as criticizing the initiative and saying that Moscow would take all necessary military measures to guarantee its own security.