Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda attends a European Council meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday, June 18, 2026.
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Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said Thursday that the country’s senior political leadership had reached agreement on scrapping a constitutional prohibition on deploying nuclear weapons within Lithuania.
The move follows a similar step in Finland, another NATO ally bordering Russia, where lawmakers recently voted to end a long-standing nuclear weapons ban.
Nauseda, speaking to journalists after the decision, said Article 137 of Lithuania’s constitution was now “outdated” and “obsolete,” state broadcaster LRT reported.
He said leaders in parliament and the government were “practically unanimous” in favor of removing the provision altogether rather than revising it, adding that it would have been “truly unfortunate” for Lithuania to be seen as NATO’s weak link.
Article 137 currently bars weapons of mass destruction from being stationed in Lithuania and also bans the creation of foreign military bases on the country’s territory.
“The geopolitical situation is getting worse. Our constitution was written when geopolitical circumstances were totally different,” Nauseda said, according to Reuters.
The removal of the provision means Vilnius can adapt to evolving security circumstances in the future, Nauseda said. He added, however, that there were no immediate plans to store nuclear weapons in the country.
Lithuania, which borders the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s more than four-year conflict with Kyiv, providing extensive military equipment and financial support.
NATO’s eastern flank
The Financial Times reported last month, citing three unnamed sources briefed on discussions, that the U.S. was in talks to secure new nuclear-capable deployments in Europe.
The report said countries on NATO’s eastern flank, such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, were interested in potentially hosting bases for so-called U.S. dual-capable aircraft (DCA), which are able to deliver nuclear strikes.
The German Air Force participated in the ‘Freedom Shield 26’ exercise during Media Day on June 20, 2026, near Pabradė, Lithuania. Approximately 2,900 soldiers from eight NATO member states are participating in these exercises, which will last several weeks.
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Russia on Thursday launched a large-scale missile and drone attack against Ukraine, targeting military, fuel and energy complexes in Kyiv and other regions across the country.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said via Telegram that there had been at least 13 deaths in Ukraine’s capital following the attacks, with July 3 declared as a day of mourning for the city.
Some of Russia’s neighbors took emergency measures in response to the attack. Finland temporarily imposed an “aviation restriction zone” in the eastern Gulf of the country, while Poland scrambled fighter jets in what it said was a preventative measure.
NATO leaders are due to meet in Ankara, Turkey on July 7-8 to discuss regional security and set out a roadmap to deliver on the alliance’s key objectives.
