A US reconnaissance aircraft circled around Russia's Kaliningrad region for over three hours, according to flight data studied by Sputnik on Friday.

The Bombardier ARTEMIS II aircraft took off from the Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase in Romania at around 5:53 GMT. It entered a circular trajectory along the borders of the Kaliningrad region near the Polish city of Augustow at about 9:00 GMT. The plane followed this pattern until 12:23 GMT, when it took a southwesterly direction, according to the data.

The aircraft was converted by the US company Leidos from a business jet for radar reconnaissance needs. In its military modification, it received the name ARTEMIS II. It is regularly used for flights around the Kaliningrad region and over the Black Sea along Crimea and other southern regions of Russia.

In recent years, Russia has noted an unprecedented NATO buildup along its western borders under the pretext of deterring "Russian aggression." The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly reiterated that Russia is open to an equal-footed dialogue with NATO and expects the West to abandon its policy of militarizing the continent.