Russian President Vladimir Putin likened a dispute with Washington over defence to the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 but said the same Cold War tensions could not be repeated.

"Let me remind you what happened in the same situation in the 1960s. When the Soviet Union deployed missiles in Cuba, it led to the Caribbean crisis," Putin said on Friday, using the Russian term for the Cuban missile crisis.

"Thank God, there is no Caribbean crisis now, mainly because Russia's relations with the European Union and the United States have changed a lot" since the Cold War, he added.

But he said that Washington was creating "threats" near Russia's borders.

Putin was speaking at a press conference after meeting EU leaders at a summit in a former royal residence in the Portuguese town of Mafra, some 40 kilometres from Lisbon.

The United States has outlined plans to locate interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic in order to guard against possible missile attacks from Iran.

Moscow has reacted angrily to the plans, saying the missile defence system is actually aimed at Russia.

US and Russian officials are discussing possible compromises, including allowing Russia access to the installations, but Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Thursday they were not convinced by the US concessions.