Russia has "grand designs" to dominate Europe once more, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says.

Key points: Mr Pompeo's comments come amid US and Russian exits from Cold-War-era treaties

Mr Pompeo's comments come amid US and Russian exits from Cold-War-era treaties He said Moscow might be reopening a flank in Eastern Europe

He said Moscow might be reopening a flank in Eastern Europe NATO's Secretary-General said the alliance was trying to avoid a arms race

The comments from America's top diplomat come amid heightened tensions between the West and Russia, as both Washington and Moscow have pulled out of a Cold-War-era treaty designed to limit nuclear cruise missiles.

In Poland, Mr Pompeo said Moscow's efforts to divide the European Union, NATO, and disrupt western democracies must be countered through boosting NATO's presence.

"Russia has grand designs of dominating Europe and reasserting its influence on the world stage," Mr Pompeo said.

"Russia's invasions of Georgia and Ukraine, its unprovoked attack on Ukrainian naval vessels this past November and its ongoing hybrid warfare against us and our allies are direct challenges to our security and to our way of life."

Mr Pompeo made the comments while visiting a NATO forward position in northeast Poland about 70 kilometres from the border with the Russian province of Kaliningrad — a territory wedged between Poland and Lithuania.

Fears over the reopening of Europe's eastern flank

Russia has been accused of arming pro-Russian militias in eastern Ukraine. ( Reuters: Baz Ratner )

Because of Russia's ongoing involvement in Ukraine, the US and others take seriously the possibility that Moscow may try to open a new front along Europe's eastern flank, Mr Pompeo said.

He said that threat underscored the indispensable nature of NATO, a cornerstone of US foreign policy for the past 70 years.

But the organisation has been subject to harsh criticism by President Donald Trump, who has cast some signatories as freeloaders unwilling to foot the bill for their own defence.

In remarks at the start of a NATO defence ministers meeting, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the military alliance was considering ways to counter Russian missiles without sparking an arms race.

He called the missiles "a significant risk" to Europe.

Also throwing US support behind NATO, Vice-President Mike Pence told hundreds of Polish and US troops in Warsaw: "We must stand together in defence of our alliance and all that we hold dear."

Against the backdrop of rising Western tensions with Russia, the NATO meeting in Brussels focused initially on the expected demise of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty, known as the INF treaty.

The US signed the pact with the Soviet Union in 1987.

The allies are considering how to respond collectively to what they say are Russian violations of the treaty.

In February, Washington launched the six-month process of leaving the treaty, insisting a new Russian missile system violated the pact.

Russia denies it is in contravention and has announced it will pull out, too.

The INF bans production, testing and deployment of land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometres.

European NATO allies had insisted the pact was a cornerstone of continental security, but NATO publicly endorsed the US's position after Mr Pompeo announced Washington's intention to leave.

'We need to plan for a world without the treaty'

Acting US Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan has been in his position for less than two months. ( AP: Francisco Seco )

Speaking at NATO headquarters, where defence ministers are discussing what to do if the imperilled treaty is abandoned, Mr Stoltenberg said: "This is very serious … we will take our time.

"Our response will be united, it will be measured and it will be defensive because we don't want a new arms race.

"And we don't have any intention to deploy new nuclear, land-based weapon systems in Europe."

Later, in remarks made alongside Acting US Secretary of Defence Patrick Shanahan, Mr Stoltenberg said: "We need to plan for a world without the treaty and with more Russian missiles."

US officials have said there is no plan to deploy in Europe a nuclear-armed INF-class missile.

They have said only non-nuclear options were under consideration and that decisions were not imminent.

Mr Shanahan, attending his first NATO meeting, said he also looked forward to talking to his colleagues about the future of the NATO alliance.

"We need to talk more about our vision and what we can accomplish in a world that has so many changing threats," he said.

NATO allies have little insight into Mr Shanahan's views, whereas they felt confident Jim Mattis — who resigned as defence secretary in December — was an unwavering supporter of the alliance.

Mr Mattis implied in his resignation letter that Mr Trump's disrespect for traditional allies was among policy differences that compelled him to quit after two years in the job.

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ABC/AP