Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev warned on Friday that Lithuania could be wiped off the map if it enters into a military confrontation with Russia.
Medvedev stressed that NATO would not defend Lithuania if Russia retaliated against its deployment of nuclear weapons, warning that invoking NATO’s Article 5 would result in a “global catastrophe.” “They’re not fools,” he added.
Russia previously warned that Lithuania’s potential move to lift its ban on nuclear weapons would constitute a “very serious escalation of tensions,” after a Lithuanian parliamentary committee voted in favor of a constitutional amendment allowing weapons of mass destruction to be stored on its territory.