Russia sharply threatens NATO country: 'Will disappear from the map of the world'

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev threatened Lithuania with a nuclear strike, stating that the country would "disappear from the map of the world" if American nuclear weapons were deployed on its territory. The threats came amid Vilnius's initiative to repeal the constitutional ban on hosting nuclear weapons.

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev issued sharp threats against Lithuania amid discussions in Vilnius about the possibility of hosting American nuclear weapons. During a visit to the Northwestern Federal District, which borders Lithuania, Medvedev stated that Russia could strike Lithuania if nuclear weapons were stationed there. "Lithuania will disappear from the map of the world," he threatened, adding that "no one will stand up for them" and that NATO countries are not ready to invoke Article 5 on collective defense. The threats came as on September 9, a committee of the Lithuanian Seimas supported an initiative to repeal Article 137 of the Constitution, which prohibits the deployment of military bases and nuclear weapons. Earlier, on September 11, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also threatened that Lithuania would be in the crosshairs of Russian nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Moscow never threatened Europeans, calling such claims fiction.