REDZIKOWO (AFP) — Polish and American officials on Wednesday opened a United States missile base in northern Poland originally intended to defend the West against threats from the Middle East, but now aimed at confronting Russia.

The Redzikowo base, 230 kilometers from the Russian border, has been operational since July but was officially inaugurated only on Wednesday.

“A US destroyer on Polish soil has become a fact,” Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, describing it as “of historical importance for the security of Poland, the United States and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).”

NATO chief Mark Rutte told reporters in Warsaw the base “significantly enhances our ability to defend against the growing threat of ballistic missiles from outside the Euro-Atlantic area.”

Despite NATO stating that the Redzikowo facility and a similar system in Romania are purely defensive, Moscow has frequently labeled it a threat.

The new base “constitutes an advance of US military infrastructure in Europe towards our borders,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Wednesday.