"We Are Already a Target of Russia": Lithuania Responded to the Kremlin's Nuclear Threats

Lithuanian politicians urge ignoring the threats.

Lithuanian politicians called the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov’s warning that Lithuanian territory would come under the target of Russian nuclear weapons if the country allows its allies to deploy nuclear weapons on its soil a tool of pressure and intimidation from Moscow. This was reported by LRT.

According to them, Lithuania is already a potential target of Russia because of its NATO membership, and Peskov’s threats should not influence the state's decisions.

On Friday, Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, stated that Lithuania’s territory would come under the sight of Russian nuclear weapons if the country allows its allies to deploy nuclear weapons on its soil.

Currently, Lithuania’s Seimas is considering a proposal to remove from the constitution the article that bans deployment of weapons of mass destruction in the country.

Laurynas Kaščiūnas, leader of the opposition faction Union of the Homeland—Lithuanian Christian Democrats in the Seimas and deputy head of the parliament’s National Security and Defense Committee, called Peskov’s statement a tool of political and psychological pressure.

“Such discussions really should be treated with dignity and calm. This could have been expected,” he told ELTA agency.

According to the politician, such Russian tactic is neither new nor exceptional. He emphasized that Russia’s target is all of NATO, so changing the constitution alone will not change Lithuania’s status.

“All of NATO is a target of the Russian Federation,” Kaščiūnas stressed.

According to him, Lithuania should ensure that the entire NATO deterrence system, including the nuclear umbrella, applies to it. In his view, nuclear deterrence is one of the main means of ensuring peace.

“Russians do not attack the strong,” Kaščiūnas said, stressing that Lithuania’s security also depends on the country’s full use of NATO defense capabilities.

Dainius Gaizauskas, member of the ruling Liberal bloc and head of the Seimas Committee on National Security and Defense, also stressed that Lithuania became a potential target of Russia after joining NATO.

According to him, the Kremlin’s threats of a possible nuclear strike are nothing new. The politician believes that Peskov’s statement is aimed at both the Russian domestic audience—to show Moscow can pressure the West—and at NATO member populations that the Kremlin tries to intimidate.

“We became a nuclear alliance country when we joined NATO. We simply do not possess such weapons ourselves,” Gaizauskas said.

In his view, changing the constitution is necessary so that Lithuania could fully use NATO defense capabilities. Otherwise, the country risks becoming a weak link in the Alliance.

“If we do not have the infrastructure and the legal framework so that, for example, F-35 or other state-of-the-art aircraft could fly to Lithuania, we become a weak link,” Gaizauskas emphasized.

The best response is to ignore it.

Reimičius Motuzas, a member of the governing Social Democratic Party faction and head of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs, also called Peskov’s statement a tool of psychological and political pressure.

According to him, Russia previously tried in a similar way to intimidate Finland and Sweden as they sought to join NATO.

“I think this is psychological and political pressure,” Motuzas told ELTA agency.

In his view, with such statements, Russia tries to pressure neighboring states not to strengthen their defense or have means to respond to possible threats.

The politician urged not to react to Moscow’s statements, because, in his words, any reaction would play into Russia’s hands.

“Ignoring is the best stance in this situation,” he said.

During the autumn session, the Seimas intends to decide on the proposal to remove from the Constitution article 137, which forbids the placement of nuclear weapons in Lithuania.

Currently, the Constitution provides that weapons of mass destruction and foreign military bases cannot be deployed on the country’s territory.

Commenting on the planned constitutional changes, Peskov warned that Lithuania would become a target for Russian nuclear weapons if nuclear weapons were deployed on its territory directed at Russia.

And Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev expressed the view that in such a scenario article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which provides for the principle of collective defense, would not be applied, and Lithuania would “disappear from the map.”