NATO'S Baltic drills are part of preparations for a potential clash with Russia, TASS reports

NATO'S Baltic drills are part of the alliance's preparations for a potential military clash with Russia, TASS news agency cited Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko as saying in remarks published on Wednesday.

"We assess NATO's military activity as part of preparations for military clashes with Russia," TASS cited Grushko as saying.

"If we look at the focus of these exercises, the concept, the structure of the deployment of forces, the forces themselves, their quality, the tasks that are formulated for these exercises, then this is a fight against a comparable adversary," Grushko said according to TASS.

BALTOPS - NATO's annual exercise in the Baltic Sea and the regions surrounding it - is being held this month.