Yevgeny Fedorov, a deputy from the United Russia party, has submitted a bill to the Russian State Duma on the abolition of the recognition of Lithuanian independence. In addition, it may subsequently also revoke Russia's recognition of the independence on Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine, the news site Gazeta.ru reported on Tuesday.

Fyodorov told the RTVI network that the reason he was suggesting revoking the recognition of Lithuania's independence is because this would lead to the nation being involved in a territorial dispute, meaning it would no longer meet the conditions for admission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Fedorov believes that the decree of the State Council of the USSR was illegal because it violated the Constitution of the USSR and the law on the withdrawal of Union republics, since no referendum on withdrawal was held in Lithuania.

"Also, the Law of the USSR of 03.04.1990 No. 1409-1 "On the Procedure for Resolving Questions Related to the Secession of a Union Republic from the USSR" was violated, since no referendum on secession from the Union SSR was held in the Republic of Lithuania and no transitional period was established to consider all disputed issues," said Fedorov.

"There are a number of reasons why Lithuania should be the first on this list. Once the mechanism has been developed, we can also use it with regard to other NATO territories. And not only NATO. Ukraine, for example, also accidentally left the Soviet Union," said Fedorov in an interview with Sputnik Latvia.

Despite Fyodorov's claims, an independence referendum was in fact held in Lithuania on February 9, 1991 (months before the recognition by the USSR's State Council), with 91% in favor for the country's independence.

In March 1991, Latvia and Estonia both held similar referendums for themselves, with over two-thirds of voters in both countries expressing support for independence. All three states had enjoyed years of independence before being forcibly annexed by the USSR in 1940.

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