Kremlin says Lithuania would be targeted if it hosted nuclear weapons aimed at Russia
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The Facts
- Dmitry Peskov said Russia would target Lithuania if it hosted nuclear weapons aimed at Russia.
- Peskov described a nuclear deployment in Lithuania as an escalation of tensions.
- Lithuania’s parliament is considering a constitutional amendment to remove its ban on hosting weapons of mass destruction.
- Lithuania has not made a decision to deploy nuclear weapons on its territory.
- Removing the constitutional ban would allow Lithuania to consider hosting nuclear weapons.
- Lithuania is a NATO member state.
Context
What did Russia say it would do?
Peskov said that if Lithuania hosted nuclear weapons directed at Russia, Lithuania would fall within the targeting of Russia’s nuclear arsenal. Коммерсант.… infobae
What change is Lithuania considering?
The Lithuanian parliament is considering removing a constitutional provision that prohibits weapons of mass destruction and foreign military bases on Lithuanian territory. Фонтанка.ру infobae
Would a constitutional amendment mean nuclear weapons are being deployed?
No. Reports said the amendment would remove a legal prohibition, and Lithuania had not decided to host nuclear weapons. Фонтанка.ру Economic Times
Where Left and Right agree, and where they split
- Where Left and Right agree
- Lithuania has made no deployment decision, but lifting the constitutional ban would open that door, and Peskov's targeting threat is a direct response to that possibility.
- Where Left and Right split
- The left and the right split on whether Lithuania's WMD ban is a safeguard to keep or a sovereign choice to reclaim.
- Why they won’t converge
- This is a values divide over where sovereignty's limits sit: whether a constitutional safeguard exists to be preserved against threat, or exists only until a sovereign body votes to lift it.
- Watch for
- Watch for the Seimas's final vote on the constitutional amendment, expected in an extended session possibly running to January 13, 2027.TASS, NaturalNews.com
How left and right read it
A constitutional ban on weapons of mass destruction is a public safeguard, and the burden belongs to whoever wants it gone. Lithuania has made no decision to deploy anything, yet removing that ban would open the door to hosting nuclear weapons, and Peskov has already answered by promising to target the country. That is the trade being offered: a legal protection surrendered for a standing nuclear threat. Keep the ban. Threats like his should stop too.
A sovereign nation's right to decide what it may consider hosting on its own soil is precisely what is at stake here, and Lithuania has decided nothing — it is weighing whether to lift a constitutional ban that forecloses the option in advance. That is why Peskov's promise to target the country matters: the threat is aimed at a NATO member's freedom to deliberate. Keep the option open, and let alliance deterrence needs decide it.
Lithuania's real decision is whether to keep a constitutional door closed, and Moscow has already announced its answer to that choice.
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