The INF Treaty was established in 1987 between the leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan at the height of the Cold War. Linas Linkevicius told Deutsche Welle that Moscow has been violating the terms of the agreement for years. Under the INF Treaty, Russia promised not to possess, produce, or flight-test a ground-launched cruise missile (GLCM) with a range capability of 500km to 5,500km, or to possess or produce launchers of such missiles.
According to a 2016 State Department report, the Russian Novator 9M729 is thought to have a range that falls between 500km and 5,500km, and is therefore illegal under the terms of the accord.
Mr Linkevicius explained: “We all understand that all these arms control agreements are very important.
“But a very important condition is that all parties must comply.
“So if not, something should be done in order to force them to.
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“So far, all the calls and the criticism have had no effect.”
The foreign minister added Lithuanians are extremely concerned about the Kremlin.
He noted: “When Russians are talking about balance, about adequate responses, it’s by no means adequate because we do not have defence capabilities.
“And we’re not going to be aggressive.
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“And we’re not going to be aggressive.
“But this is really not a move for confidence building.
“And by the way, these missiles can reach not just Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius, but also Berlin.
“And they’re nuclear-capable. So I believe it’s really an escalation measure.”
Mr Linkevicius’ remarks echoed the words of US President Donald Trump who announced less than a month ago he wants to pull out of the INF treaty.
Speaking at a rally in Nevada at the end of October, he said: “Russia has not, unfortunately, honoured the agreement so we’re going to terminate the agreement and we’re going to pull out.
“We’re not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and we’re not allowed to.”
Trump’s decision to withdraw from the treaty has drawn sharp criticism from Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union’s last leader, who warned it increased the risk of nuclear conflict and a new arms race.