Germany will send up to 350 more troops to Lithuania, Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Monday, reinforcing a German-led NATO combat unit deployed there to deter a Russian attack, Reuters reported.

Germany's defense ministry said the deployment of the additional troops will begin on 14 February. Lithuania's defense minister called the news "an important signal."

"Germany, like other NATO countries, is sending reinforcements because the security situation in the region is very tense, our own concern for our security is not getting smaller," Arvydas Anusauskas told BNS news wire.

NATO has deployed four multinational combat units totaling about 5,000 troops to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. They were sent there in response to Crimea's annexation of Russia in 2014.