Moscow, Sept 11 (V7N) – Russia said on Friday it would aim its nuclear warheads at Lithuania if the Baltic state hosted any weapons from the nuclear arsenals of its NATO allies on its territory, as the Kremlin warned of a "very serious turn" in escalating tensions.

Lithuania is moving to lift a constitutional ban on having nuclear weapons stored in the country, part of an effort to boost its security posture amid Russia's offensive on Ukraine. The decision is currently working its way through parliament—where it needs a two-thirds majority to pass and has the support of the president and major parties—and could come into force this winter.

"It would be a very serious turn in terms of escalating tensions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state TV when asked about the plan. "If there are nuclear weapons on the territory that are aimed at us, accordingly, the territory of that country will fall into the crosshairs of our own nuclear weapons."

Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda announced the plans in July, saying his country wanted to be an "integral part of this nuclear deterrence". The move comes as NATO has been strengthening its eastern flank following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Lithuania, a former Soviet republic that borders Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and Belarus, has been one of the most vocal supporters of Ukraine and has significantly increased its defence spending in recent years.

The constitutional amendment would allow NATO allies to deploy nuclear weapons on Lithuanian soil, though no specific plans for such deployment have been announced. NATO's nuclear sharing arrangements currently involve Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey, with US nuclear weapons stationed in some of these countries.

The threat marks a further escalation in tensions between Russia and NATO, which have been at their highest levels since the Cold War. Russia has previously warned that it would respond to any NATO nuclear deployment near its borders. In 2023, Russia announced it was deploying tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, a move that was widely seen as a response to NATO's nuclear sharing arrangements in Europe. Lithuania's parliament is expected to vote on the constitutional amendment in the coming weeks, with the measure requiring a two-thirds majority to pass.

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