Kremlin warns of 'escalation' after Lithuania votes to ease nuclear ban

The Kremlin warned on Tuesday that a preliminary vote by Lithuania's parliament to lift its constitutional ban on hosting nuclear weapons could lead to a new round of escalation in the region.

Lithuania's parliament, the Seimas, voted 106-18, with six abstentions, in favour of amending the constitution to remove a provision barring weapons of mass destruction and foreign military bases from Lithuanian territory, Euronews reported. A second vote is required after a three-month waiting period, with a final vote expected on 12 January; at least 94 of the Seimas' 141 members must back it both times.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that if the military infrastructure of what he called NATO's leading country, the United States, moved closer to Russia's borders, "this cannot be perceived as anything other than a step towards escalating tensions." He said the same applied to deploying nuclear weapons on the territory of a neighbouring state, and that such developments would mark a new, significant escalation, Digi24 reported.

Supporters of the amendment say the current constitutional ban puts Lithuania at a disadvantage compared with fellow NATO members Latvia, Estonia and Poland, which have no such restriction. "We cannot be less protected than other NATO countries," said Remigijus Motuzas, chairman of the Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee, according to Euronews.

Lithuania borders both Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and Belarus, a close Moscow ally. Finland removed its own ban on nuclear weapons earlier this year, saying it needed to ensure its laws did not limit its ability to meet its obligations as a NATO member, though it has said it does not intend to host nuclear weapons itself.