Lithuania said on Tuesday that it stands ready to cover the costs of hosting a permanent US military base, while Russia said that any deployment of NATO infrastructure or nuclear weapons on Lithuanian soil would further escalate regional tensions.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said on Tuesday that Lithuania is ready to pay the cost to set up a permanent US military base if Washington should ‌agree to establish one there, a day after US President Donald Trump said he would consider Lithuania's request for a permanent base.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, on the same day, said that the possible deployment of a NATO military base and nuclear weapons in Lithuania would further escalate tensions.

"Both of these things will not contribute to stability and predictability on the European continent. On the contrary, they will become another significant round in the escalation of tensions," Peskov said.

Peskov added that if such deployment occurs, Russia would be forced to take retaliatory measures to ensure its national security.

A constitutional amendment to lift a ban on weapons of mass destruction, potentially opening the way for stationing NATO nuclear weapons in Lithuania, passed the first reading in the Lithuanian parliament earlier on Tuesday. A final vote on the amendment has been scheduled for January 12, 2027.

Lithuania, a member of the EU and NATO, shares a border with Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad. The United States has kept an armored battalion of almost 1,000 troops there since 2019, in overlapping rotations, meaning ‌the troops arrive and leave every few months. Sinkevicius said he proposed turning this into a permanent presence at a meeting with Trump's envoy John Coale last month in Vilnius.

The latest development comes as Russia recently issued a warning over NATO's military activities in the Baltic region, saying it is prepared to use all means at its disposal, including nuclear weapons, to defend its territory if NATO attempts to blockade Russia's Kaliningrad region.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte responded last week by describing NATO as a "defensive alliance" and condemning what he called Russia's "nuclear threats." Moscow said it poses no threat to anyone.

The exchange has remained largely rhetorical, but highlights rising tensions around Kaliningrad and the broader Baltic region.

The recent tensions in the Baltic appear to be directly linked to repeated drone disputes between Russia and Baltic coastal states, while NATO has increasingly pressured Russia by targeting its socioeconomic stability, said Chen Yu, deputy director of the Institute of Eurasian Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

More fundamentally, Chen said, this is the inevitable result of a shift in NATO's Baltic strategy: after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict since February 2022, NATO's presence in the Baltic has gradually upgraded from rotational deterrence to permanent basing, pushing military pressure right up to Russia's border.

Chen said the Baltic states hope to use nuclear deterrence to offset Russia's military power, driven by rising security anxiety and a desire to align with US strategic agenda, as Washington actively discusses expanding its nuclear deployment plans in Europe.

In response, he said, Russia is likely to further strengthen its nuclear forces in Kaliningrad, deploy more tactical nuclear weapons and hypersonic weapons, and enhance the nuclear-conventional strike capability of its Baltic Fleet so as to defend its red lines while avoiding being cornered into a full confrontation.

(With input from agencies)