Minister dismisses Peskov nuclear warning as Russian provocation

Lithuania is already a target of Russia, Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said on Friday, dismissing Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov’s warning that Lithuania would come under Russia’s nuclear sights if it allowed allies to deploy nuclear weapons there. LRT reported his remarks.

“Moscow probably forgot to mention that Lithuania, like all other NATO countries, is already a target of Russia,” Kaunas said on LRT Radio.

He also said Russia had already deployed tactical nuclear weapons around Lithuania.

Kaunas described Peskov’s statement as “another Russian provocation and an attempt to intimidate, having nothing to do with reality.” He said Lithuania was a sovereign state and a member of NATO and the European Union, and that Lithuanians, the government and parliament would decide how the country should act.

“We really must not pay attention to any rhetoric or intimidation from the aggressor directed at our nation,” the minister said.

Peskov made his remarks while commenting on the Lithuanian parliament’s plans to remove from the Constitution a provision prohibiting the deployment of weapons of mass destruction in the country. He said that if nuclear weapons aimed at Russia were deployed in Lithuania, the country would consequently become a target of Russian nuclear weapons.

The parliament is expected to consider the proposal during its autumn session. Article 137 of Lithuania’s Constitution currently prohibits both weapons of mass destruction and foreign military bases on the country’s territory, regardless of NATO’s collective defence needs or the threat posed by Russian aggression.