Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
“ Lithuania will disappear from the map of the world”: Medvedev threatened the country over possible placement of nuclear weapons
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, stated that Russia would be compelled to respond if Lithuania cancels the constitutional ban on the placement of nuclear weapons. At the same time, he said that in such a scenario NATO countries allegedly would not dare to invoke Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
Medvedev made the statement during a visit to the Northwestern Federal District of Russia.
According to him, in Lithuania there is discussion of possible amendments to the Constitution that would allow renouncing the country’s non-nuclear status and potentially placing weapons on its territory, including nuclear weapons.
“Regarding Lithuania — this is not a rumor; it is basically their statement that it would be nice, as I understand it, to change their Constitution, where the non-nuclear status of this large Baltic state was mentioned, thereby opening the door to the possible deployment of any weapons, including nuclear ones. Therefore they are doing this in vain,” Medvedev said.
The Northwestern Federal District of Russia borders Lithuania and other Baltic states, as well as Finland, Norway, and Poland. All of these states are members of NATO.
Medvedev claims that in the event of nuclear weapons being deployed on Lithuanian territory, Russia will be forced to take countermeasures. At the same time, he expressed the view that NATO Article 5 would not be applied in such a case.
“No one will defend them. Even if there is a burnt field there, no other countries will come to fight for them. And the well-known Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty — it will not be implemented, everyone will admit it. Because if it is implemented — it would be a global, planetary catastrophe. They are not fools. But Lithuania will disappear from the map of the world,” he said.
The initiative to repeal the constitutional ban on the deployment of nuclear weapons in Lithuania has already received support from the relevant committee of the Seimas. The parliament plans to finalize the changes in the winter.
The need to reconsider the current restriction is explained by changes in the security situation. In particular, it states that the current ban does not correspond to modern geopolitical realities, while nuclear deterrence is one of the key components of NATO’s collective defense.
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