Lithuania’s parliament advanced a constitutional amendment to remove the ban on deploying nuclear weapons on its territory, with the Seimas voting 106-18 and six abstentions as it moved the change through the first of two ballots.
The Kremlin warned that the move would be treated as escalation, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling a press briefing that the step “cannot be viewed as “anything other than a step toward escalating tensions.””
The Kremlin also linked the vote to broader plans for NATO and US infrastructure in the region, and it said Russia would be compelled to take “all necessary measures to guarantee its own security.”
Lithuania’s amendment still required a second vote, and the final vote was scheduled for Jan. 12, according to the reporting that described the process as a two-ballot change.
The debate centered on Lithuania’s border with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic Sea, and the Kremlin framed the constitutional change as part of a wider shift in regional security posture.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would interpret a potential permanent US military base in Lithuania as a step toward escalating tensions, and he tied the warning to the proximity of NATO’s leading country to Russia’s borders. Reuters quoted Peskov saying: “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.” Peskov also warned that the same logic applied to nuclear weapons deployment, and Reuters quoted him saying: “The same applies to the deployment of nuclear weapons on the territory of a neighbouring state.”
What some reports left out
Lithuania’s amendment is said to let it use NATO’s full deterrent potential
Reported by: shelter.in.ua
Not found in: Kyiv Post, Reuters, CNBC, Euronews, The Moscow Times, Yeni Şafak English, Anadolu Ajansı
The Kremlin’s position placed Lithuania’s constitutional change and the US base proposal in the same escalation framework, while the reporting described Lithuania as a member of the EU and NATO that borders Russia and Moscow’s close ally Belarus. The Reuters account also described the legal overhaul as requiring a two-thirds majority in two parliamentary votes to go into effect, and it said the change would remove prohibitions put in place more than three decades ago after Lithuania broke away from the Soviet Union.
Lithuanian officials argued that removing the constitutional restriction would allow the country’s armed forces to participate fully in the planning and exercises of NATO’s deterrence measures, and Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen said the amendment would enable that participation.
“We cannot be less protected than other NATO countries. We must send a signal that Lithuania is a full part of NATO’s nuclear deterrence.”
EuronewsEuronews reported that the Seimas voted 106-18 with six abstentions to advance the constitutional amendment, and it said at least 94 of the Seimas’ 141 members must back it on both occasions.
Euronews also quoted Remigijus Motuzas arguing that Lithuania must not be “less protected than other NATO countries,” saying “We cannot be less protected than other NATO countries. We must send a signal that Lithuania is a full part of NATO’s nuclear deterrence.”
The Kremlin’s warnings framed the constitutional change as a risk to stability and predictability, and Reuters quoted Peskov saying the developments would “mark yet another significant escalation of tensions.”
The next step remained the second vote scheduled for January 12, 2027, and the reporting described the amendment as bringing Lithuania closer to the legal position of its neighbours as European allies debate strengthening NATO’s deterrence in the face of Russia.