Kremlin threatens Lithuania with nuclear strike over possible lifting of ban on hosting nuclear weapons

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that if Lithuania deploys nuclear weapons on its territory, the country would become a target for retaliatory strikes by Russian nuclear forces. He made the comment while addressing plans by the Lithuanian parliament to revise the constitutional ban on hosting such weapons.

According to Peskov, lifting the ban had been expected and would mark "a very serious step toward escalating tensions." "If you deploy nuclear weapons on your territory, they're aimed at someone. Obviously not at the West — they will be aimed eastward, that is, at us," the Kremlin spokesman said, as quoted by the TASS news agency.

"If nuclear weapons aimed against us are stationed on a country's territory, that country's territory will accordingly also fall within the crosshairs of our nuclear weapons," he added menacingly.

What Lithuania is planning

According to Lithuania's national broadcaster LRT, the country's parliament — the Seimas — will this year consider removing the ban on nuclear weapons from the constitution, along with a new national security strategy. These initiatives are part of a package of 550 bills covering defense, security and demographic challenges. Lawmakers plan to work through the entire package by December 23 over the course of 46 sessions.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said back in July that Article 137 of the constitution, which bans the deployment of nuclear weapons on Lithuanian territory, has "lost its meaning" and should be "abolished entirely." Besides banning nuclear weapons, the article also prohibits the establishment of permanent foreign military bases in Lithuania.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz