Kremlin warns Lithuania that its move to lift a nuclear arms ban risks further escalation

Kremlin Warns Lithuania: Lifting Nuclear Arms Ban Could Spark Regional Escalation

Russia Responds to Lithuania's Nuclear Policy Shift

MOSCOW, Oct 6 (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Tuesday warned that a preliminary decision by NATO member Lithuania to lift a constitutional ban on hosting nuclear arms on its territory could lead to a new round of escalation in the region.

Lithuanian Parliamentary Decision

Lithuania's parliament voted in favour of removing the ban on Tuesday, in a first of two ballots required for the change.

Kremlin's Reaction to NATO Expansion

Asked by reporters how Russia viewed that development, as well as a proposal floated this month by US President Donald Trump to build an American military base in the Baltic country, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:

Statements from the Kremlin

 "If the military infrastructure of what is, in effect, NATO's leading country (the US) is moving closer to our borders, then, of course, this cannot be perceived as anything other than a step towards escalating tensions."

He added: "The same applies to the deployment of nuclear weapons on the territory of a neighbouring state. Neither of these developments will contribute to stability and predictability on the European continent; on the contrary, they will, much to our regret, mark yet another significant escalation of tensions."

Background: Lithuania's Strategic Position

Lithuania, a ​member of the EU and NATO, borders Russia and Moscow's close ally Belarus. The US has ​kept an armoured battalion of almost ​1,000 troops there since 2019, in overlapping rotations, meaning ‌the ⁠troops arrive and leave every few months.

Legal and Historical Context

 The legal overhaul of the nuclear arms ban, which requires a two-thirds majority in two parliamentary votes to go into effect, is set to remove prohibitions put in place more than three decades ago after Lithuania broke away from the Soviet Union.

(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Lucy PapachristouEditing by Andrew Osborn)