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

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.

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

"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."

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. 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.