MOSCOW, October 4. /TASS/. A call by Lithuania’s top diplomat to extend NATO’s nuclear umbrella to encompass Ukraine is a case of "empty saber rattling" and something that will not go unnoticed, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik Radio.

When asked to comment on a recent remark by Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, the Russian diplomat said: "This is a country that, I think, has failed to make a major contribution to efforts to address any nuclear security-related issue. At least, I am not aware of any [such contribution]. Meanwhile, this saber rattling does not go unnoticed." She warned that a range of regions across the globe might question the nuclear status of individual countries.

Also, Zakharova surmised that the European Union may feel the "need for a nuclear Ukraine as part their theater of the absurd, given that such people as [German Foreign Minister] Annalena Baerbock are currently in power in EU countries."