Berlin - A Russian forward deployment of short-range Iskander missiles is "the wrong signal," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Berlin Wednesday.

Moscow said earlier in the day the weapons would be moved to its Baltic Sea enclave of Kaliningrad, close to Poland.

Speaking after meeting with Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller, Steinmeier rejected what he called the "new mentality of blocs."

"It's the wrong signal at the wrong time," he said. Russia ought to treat the election of Barack Obama to the US presidency as an opportunity for a fresh start, he said. (dpa)