“Lithuania Will Disappear From the World Map,” Russia’s Medvedev Threatens NATO State

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said Lithuania would “disappear from the world map” in the event of a military confrontation with Russia over the possible deployment of nuclear weapons in the Baltic NATO member, while claiming the alliance would not invoke its collective defense clause.

Medvedev made the remarks during a September 11 visit to Russia’s Northwestern Federal District and later published them on his Max channel, according to Russian state media. Referring to NATO’s Article 5, he said: “If it is implemented, it will be a global catastrophe, a planetary one. They are not fools. But Lithuania will disappear from the world map.”

Medvedev was responding to Lithuania’s ongoing effort to remove constitutional restrictions on the deployment of nuclear weapons. He claimed that NATO members would not come to Lithuania’s defense if Russia responded militarily to such a deployment.

The remarks came as Lithuania moves forward with amendments to Article 137 of its Constitution, which currently states that weapons of mass destruction and foreign military bases may not be stationed on Lithuanian territory.

On September 9, the Seimas Committee on Legal Affairs voted 7-2 in favor of removing the provision concerning nuclear weapons. Parliament Speaker Juozas Olekas said the restriction was adopted under significantly different geopolitical circumstances and no longer reflected Lithuania’s current security environment.

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The debate has also coincided with wider discussions over Lithuania’s possible role in NATO nuclear deterrence. Lithuanian Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas confirmed that Vilnius was participating in discussions concerning a possible expansion of US nuclear capabilities to additional NATO countries in Europe.

Kaunas later stressed that Lithuania was not discussing the deployment of weapons of mass destruction during peacetime, saying such options would be relevant only in a crisis or wartime situation.

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