Lithuania–Russia relations or the Russo-Lithuanian relations are the bilateral relations between the Republic of Lithuania and the Russian Federation. They have been marked by a long and turbulent history dating back to the Middle Ages. The modern-day relations have been mostly hostile. The two countries share a common border through Kaliningrad Oblast. Lithuania has an embassy in Moscow with consulates in Kaliningrad and in Sovetsk, whereas Russia has an embassy in Vilnius.
Despite today's difference in population and area between the countries, Lithuania (also as part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) and Russia (including its predecessor Principality of Moscow) were more equal regional powers in the past, competing for supremacy in Eastern Europe. The two states fought numerous wars, with Lithuania controlling sizeable parts of modern-day Russia in the Late Middle Ages, and Russia controlling the bulk of Lithuania in the late modern period. The contemporary diplomatic relations were established after the Lithuanian–Soviet War, by signing a peace treaty on 12 July 1920.
In response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Bucha massacre, in April 2022, Lithuania downgraded diplomatic relations and expelled the Russian ambassador. As of 2022, the relations between the countries have been reduced to the bare minimum.
History Medieval period
The origins of the relations between contemporary Lithuania and Russia can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when the expanding Grand Duchy of Lithuania came into contact with the Principality of Moscow.Eidintas et al. (2015), p. 45 The rivalry between the Lithuanian dukes and Muscovite princes began in the first half of the 14th century and soon resulted in Lithuanian–Muscovite War (1368–1372).Krom (2012), p. r1 In this conflict, the Principality of Tver sided with Lithuania.Krom (2012), p. r1 The conflict resumed again in the 15th century, as the rulers of both powers had aspirations to seize the territories of the former Kievan Rus', resulting in a number of campaigns, territorial changes, complex alliances and regional rulers changing sides.Krom (2012), p. r1 On 31 August 1449, Casimir IV Jagiellon and Vasily II of Moscow signed the first treaty between Lithuania and Muscovy, referred to as the Treaty of Eternal Peace (1449). The wars continued in 1487–1494, 1500–1503, and 1512–1522, with a number of truce and peace treaties signed in this period. In the early 16th century, Lithuania lost the eastern cities of Bryansk, Kursk, and Smolensk to Muscovy.
Post-medieval period
After the Union of Lublin in 1569, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania co-formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Meanwhile, Ivan IV seized the territories in the north and, in 1547, consolidated them under the Tsardom of Russia. Both states continued to have wars, either directly or within alliances, throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Following the Great Northern War, which involved many European powers, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth began to decline and was eventually partitioned by the neighbouring powers. After the third partition in 1795, the bulk of the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania was taken over by the Russian Empire.Eidintas et al. (2015), p. 23 The new provinces were often called "Lithuanian", but in 1840, Nicholas I prohibited the use of the name. There were two major rebellions against the Russian rule, the November Uprising of 1830 and the January Uprising of 1863, but they failed to restore the Polish–Lithuanian state.Eidintas et al. (2015), p. 123Eidintas et al. (2015), p. 128
20th century
During the 1905 Russian Revolution, a large congress of Lithuanian representatives in the Great Seimas of Vilnius demanded a wide political autonomy for Lithuania (by which they meant the northwestern portion of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania)Snyder (2003), p. 53 on 5 December of that year. The tsarist regime made a number of concessions as the result of the 1905 uprising. The Baltic states once again were permitted to use their native languages in schooling and public discourse, and Catholic churches were again built in Lithuania. Latin alphabet was restored after a period of the Lithuanian press ban. However, even Russian liberals were not prepared to concede autonomy similar to the degree it already existed in Estonia and Latvia, albeit under Baltic German hegemony. Many Baltic Germans looked toward aligning the Baltics (Lithuania and Courland in particular) with Germany.Hiden, John and Salmon, Patrick. The Baltic Nations and Europe. London: Longman. 1994.
After the outbreak of hostilities in World War I, Germany occupied Lithuania and Courland in 1915. Vilnius fell to the Germans on 19 September 1915 and Lithuania was incorporated into Ober Ost under a German government of occupation. As open annexation could result in a public-relations backlash, the Germans planned to form a network of formally independent states that would in fact be dependent on Germany. However, the defeat of Germany in World War I and the October Revolution in Russia created an opportunity for the Lithuanian leaders to organize the Vilnius Conference and begin the process of reestablishing a fully independent Lithuanian state.Eidintas et al. (2015), p. 158 On 16 February 1918, the Council of Lithuania signed the Act of Independence of Lithuania, proclaiming the Republic of Lithuania.
Interwar period
During the Soviet westward offensive of 1918–19, which followed the retreating German troops, a Lithuanian–Soviet War was fought between the newly independent Lithuania and the Soviet Russia. At the same time, the Soviet Russia created short-lived puppet states: Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic which was soon merged into the Lithuanian–Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. However, the Soviet military campaign was unsuccessful and the Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty was signed on 12 July 1920. In the treaty, the Soviet Russia recognized fully independent Lithuania, including its claims to the disputed Vilnius Region.Snyder (2003), p. 63
Following the peace treaty with Soviet Russia, Lithuania secretly allowed the Soviet forces a passage through its territory as they moved against Poland.Snyder (2003), p. 63 On 14 July 1920, the advancing Soviet army captured Vilnius and returned it to Lithuanians, but on 26 August 1920 the city was again captured by the Polish army which defeated the Soviets. To prevent further fighting, the Suwałki Agreement was signed by Poland and Lithuania on 7 October 1920; it left Vilnius on the Lithuanian side of the armistice line.Snyder (2003), p. 63-65 It never went into effect, however, because Polish General Lucjan Żeligowski, acting on Józef Piłsudski's orders, staged the Żeligowski's Mutiny: a military offensive presented as a mutiny. He invaded Lithuania on 8 October 1920, captured Vilnius the following day, and established a short-lived Republic of Central Lithuania in eastern Lithuania on 12 October 1920. The "Republic" was a part of Piłsudski's federalist scheme, which never materialized due to opposition from both the Polish and Lithuanian nationalists.
On 30 December 1922, Soviet Russia was incorporated into the Soviet Union, and the latter state inherited the Lithuania–Russia relations.
The Third Seimas of Lithuania was elected in May 1926. For the first time, the bloc led by the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party lost their majority and went into opposition. It was sharply criticized for signing the Soviet–Lithuanian Non-Aggression Pact, even though it affirmed Soviet recognition of Lithuanian claims to Poland-held Vilnius.Snyder (2003), p. 78–79
World War II
At the beginning of World War II, when the Soviet Union invaded Poland, Soviet troops took over the Vilnius Region. The region belonged to Interwar Poland, but according to the 1920 Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty and later treaties, it was recognized as Lithuanian. As a result, Soviets and Germans re-negotiated the secret protocols of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. On 28 September 1939, they signed the Boundary and Friendship Treaty. Its secret attachment detailed that to compensate the Soviet Union for German-occupied Polish territories, Germany would transfer Lithuania, except for a small territory in Suvalkija, to the Soviet sphere of influence. The exchange of territories was also motivated by Soviet control of Vilnius: the Soviet Union could exert significant influence on the Lithuanian government, which claimed Vilnius to be its de jure capital. In the secret protocols, both Soviet Union and Germany explicitly recognized Lithuanian interest in Vilnius. Accordingly, by the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty of 10 October 1939, Lithuania would acquire about one fifth of the Vilnius Region, including Lithuania's historical capital, Vilnius, and in exchange would allow five Soviet military bases with 20,000 troops to be established across Lithuania.
After months of intense propaganda and diplomatic pressure, the Soviets issued an ultimatum on 14 June 1940. Soviets accused Lithuania of violating the treaty and abducting Russian soldiers from their bases. Soviets demanded that a new government, which would comply with the Mutual Assistance Treaty, would be formed and that an unspecified number of Soviet troops would be admitted to Lithuania. With Soviet troops already in the country, it was impossible to mount military resistance. Soviets took control of government institutions, installed a new pro-Soviet puppet government, and announced elections to the People's Seimas. Following the sham election, the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic was incorporated into the Soviet Union on 3 August 1940. One local Communist party emerged from underground with 1500 members in Lithuania.
Soviet occupation (1944-1991)
In the summer of 1944, the Soviet Red Army reached eastern Lithuania.Snyder (2003), p. 72 By July 1944, the area around Vilnius came under control of the Polish Resistance fighters of the Armia Krajowa, who also attempted a takeover of the German-held city during the ill-fated Operation Ostra Brama.Snyder (2003), p. 88 The Red Army captured Vilnius with Polish help on 13 July. The Soviet Union re-occupied Lithuania and Joseph Stalin re-established the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1944, with its capital in Vilnius. The Soviets secured the passive agreement of the United States and Great Britain (see Yalta Conference and Potsdam Agreement) to this annexation. By January 1945, the Soviet forces captured Klaipėda on the Baltic coast. The heaviest physical losses in Lithuania during World War II were suffered in 1944–45, when the Red Army pushed out the Nazi invaders.Saulius Sužiedelis, Zagłada Żydów, piekło Litwinów [Extermination of the Jews, hell for the Lithuanians]. Zagłada Żydów, piekło Litwinów Gazeta Wyborcza wyborcza.pl 28.11.2013 It is estimated that Lithuania lost 780,000 people between 1940 and 1954 under the Nazi and Soviet occupations.Lithuania profile: history. U.S. Department of State Background Notes. Last accessed on 2 June 2013
After Stalin's death in 1953, the deportees were slowly and gradually released. The last deportees were released only in 1963. Some 60,000 managed to return to Lithuania, while 30,000 were prohibited from settling back in their homeland. Soviet authorities encouraged the immigration of non-Lithuanian workers, especially Russians, as a way of integrating Lithuania into the Soviet Union and encouraging industrial development, but in Lithuania, this process did not assume the massive scale experienced by other European Soviet republics.Snyder (2003), p. 94