VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuania’s government on Tuesday declared a national emergency over security risks posed by meteorological balloons sent from Russia-allied Belarus that have violated its airspace in recent weeks, while the Belarusian leader called for negotiations on border tensions and said his country “does not need war.”
The balloons forced Lithuania to repeatedly shut down its main airport, stranding thousands of people, as Europe remains on alert over previous intrusions into NATO airspace during the war in Ukraine.
“In combating the Belarusian hybrid attack, we must take the strictest measures and defend the areas most affected by this attack," Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said.
The announcement followed a Cabinet meeting of the Baltic state, which is a NATO member and strong backer of Ukraine in its fight against Russian forces who launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The national emergency means the army will be able to patrol the border area together with other uniformed services and receive extra rights from parliament, such as to conduct searches or detain people.
The government said the impact on civilians would be limited.
While the balloons are used to smuggle cigarettes into Lithuania, officials in Vilnius see their numbers and trajectories as deliberate acts of disruption orchestrated by Belarus.
According to the Lithuanian government, the Vilnius international airport has been closed for more than 60 hours since October due to the threat posed to civil aviation, affecting over 350 flights and approximately 51,000 passengers.
Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič said Lithuanian prosecutors launched an investigation into the balloons and the secret services would provide information about the connection with the Minsk regime.
“I have no information that the Belarusian side is trying to curb the senders of the balloons,” the minister said. “And this is one of the proofs that this is a hybrid attack.”
In October, Lithuanian authorities closed two border crossings in response to the airspace violations.
Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko denounced Lithuania’s move to close the border as a “mad scam” and part of a “hybrid war” against his country. He suggested that Vilnius needs to combat smuggling of contraband.
On Tuesday, Lukashenko denied accusations that Minsk was carrying out hybrid attacks on Lithuania and said the balloons could not harm civil aviation. Instead, the Belarusian leader accused Vilnius of “politicizing” the problem.
He called for negotiations between Minsk and Vilnius. “If you want normal relations, sit down at the table and discuss these issues. We are ready to do that,” he said during a session of Belarus’ security council.
Belarus’ deputy foreign minister Igor Sekreta also urged Vilnius to meet Minsk at the negotiating table. “For some reason, Lithuania perceives any contact at a political level with the Belarusian side as a defeat,” Sekreta said.
Lithuania, Poland and other European Union countries in the region in recent years have accused Belarus of other activity aimed at triggering instability, including with cyberattacks. They also accuse Minsk of directing a large influx of migrants from the Middle East and Africa to their borders to create a migration crisis.
“Belarus is signalling to Lithuania that it can raise the price at any moment," Linas Kojala, head of the Geopolitics and Security Studies Center in Vilnius, told The Associated Press. “Yesterday with weaponized migration, today with balloons that are hardly separable from regime control.”
“These steps are not only about pressure on Vilnius, they are also about breaking the regime’s international isolation, which Lukashenko sees as a strategic priority,” Kojala added.
Experts said Belarus likely hopes that the issue will force Vilnius and the wider EU to engage with Minsk.
“We see the reluctance of both the EU and Lithuania to talk to Lukashenko and start softening European sanctions that are painful for Belarus,” Belarusian political analyst Valery Karbalevich told the AP. “This is an attempt to force European partners to sit down at the table through threats and hybrid attacks.”
Karbalevich also said the timing was significant, noting that the balloon issue escalated soon after Lukashenko was able to secure the end of U.S. sanctions against national airline Belavia.
“Lukashenko wants the EU to lift or soften sanctions and he hopes to initiate negotiations by blackmailing Lithuania,” Karabalevich said.
Associated Press writer Yuras Karmanau contributed from Tallinn, Estonia.
FILE - In this undated photo released by the State Border Guard Service, an officer inspects a balloon used to carry cigarettes into Lithuania, because Belarussian smugglers often use them to ferry the contraband into the European Union (State Border Guard Service via AP, File)
Iranian fired drones towards Saudi Arabia and Kuwait early Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump sent contradictory signals about how long the war could last, fueling uncertainty that’s causing markets to swing.
The Saudi Defense Ministry said it has destroyed drones over the kingdom’s oil-rich eastern region, while in Kuwait, the National Guard said it shot some down in the county’s northern and southern areas.
Iran’s latest attacks on neighboring Gulf States come as Trump late Monday told Republican lawmakers that the war was likely to be a “short excursion,” but hours later threatened in a post on social media that the U.S. would dramatically increase attacks if Iran tried to close the Strait of Hormuz.
In an apparent response to Trump’s remarks published in Iranian state media, a spokesperson for the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Ali Mohammad Naini, said “Iran will determine when the war ends.”
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Amin Nasser, the president and CEO of Aramco, said the firm remained “focused on safety and meeting our commitments.”
“That situation continues to evolve, and the safety of our people and our operations remain our highest priorities,” Nasser said.
He did not immediately elaborate on any effects from the war on the company’s output.
Nasser hinted at global oil markets being squeezed the longer the Iran war goes on and shipments from the Mideast being affected.
“Given the current geopolitical situation, we may see inventories eroding and being drawn down faster as shipments are being curtailed from the region,” he said. “This is at a time when current global spare capacity remains extremely low.”
That likely could push the price per barrel globally even higher, translating to higher costs for gasoline and jet fuel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Tuesday that Israel will continue striking Iran.
“Our aim is to bring the Iranian people to cast off the yoke of tyranny, ultimately it depends on them,” Netanyahu said during a meeting with Israel’s hospital and health system leaders.
“But there is no doubt that with the actions taken so far, we are breaking their bones,” he said.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told government agencies and state companies to begin having staff not in public facing roles to work from home.
The government said Tuesday that Thailand was also suspending overseas training and study trips.
The announcement comes as countries in Southeast Asia move to counter disruptions to oil and gas supplies from the war in the Middle East.
The Vietnamese government ordered similar measures, but also urged people to limit private use of their vehicles.
Fuel prices have climbed and long lines have formed outside filling stations as drivers and motorcycle riders rush to ensure they can fill their tanks.
Iran’s parliament speaker on Tuesday dismissed any suggestion Tehran sought a ceasefire in the war.
“We are definitely not looking for a ceasefire; we believe that the aggressor should be punched in the mouth so that he learns a lesson so that he will never think of attacking our beloved Iran again,” Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf wrote on X.
“The Zionist regime sees its shameful existence in the continuation of the cycle of ‘war-negotiation-ceasefire and then war again’ to consolidate its dominance. We will break this cycle,” he wrote.
The Israeli military said Tuesday it killed three Palestinians in Gaza late Monday.
The Palestinians approached Israeli troops near the temporary line that Israel withdrew to at the start of the October 2025 ceasefire. The Yellow Line marks the Israel-controlled area in eastern Gaza.
Since the start of the ceasefire, at least 80 Palestinians have been killed near the Yellow Line after the Israeli military accused them of approaching and endangering soldiers.
Israel’s military said it detected an Iranian missile launch targeting the country Tuesday morning.
Sirens were heard in Jerusalem and explosions could be heard in Tel Aviv as Israel’s military worked to intercept the fire.
India’s oil ministry has set up a committee to review supplies of commercial cooking gas as the hospitality sector experiences a shortage of liquefied petroleum gas cylinders.
India relies heavily on oil and gas shipped through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has attacked several ships in the strait and threatened any ships that try to pass through, effectively closing it.
Industry groups in India say restaurants in some major cities including Mumbai and Bengaluru are struggling to secure cooking gas cylinders. They warn some eateries could shut within days if supplies are not restored.
Indian authorities have prioritized LPG supplies for household use, tightening availability for commercial users such as hotels and restaurants.
Azerbaijan has sent humanitarian aid to Iran, Azerbaijani officials said Monday.
The aid includes 10 tons of flour, six tons of rice, more than two tons of sugar, over four tons of water, about 600 kilograms of tea and about two tons of medicines and medical supplies, according to officials.
The move comes after tensions spiked between Baku and Tehran last week when Azerbaijan accused Iran of firing drones at its Nakhchivan exclave, an allegation Tehran denies.
Azerbaijan also has increased military and economic ties with Israel.
Iran’s judiciary is warning its local media about what and how it reports as the war with Israel and the United States goes on.
That was a comment made by judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir as reported by the state-run IRNA news agency.
It said Jahangir said local outlets “that did not comply with security issues and had taken videos and photos of certain places solely for the purpose of informing were given the necessary warnings.”
“If this happens again, the necessary legal measures will be taken,” he said, without elaborating.
Iran has shut off the internet during the war and may be restricting reporting to hide what has been struck so far.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday the Patriot missile defense system is being deployed in Malatya province, which hosts a NATO radar base.
The move follows NATO defenses intercepting a second ballistic missile fired from Iran that entered Turkish airspace Monday.
The Israeli military on Tuesday reiterated the call for all residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes as it planned to “operate forcefully” in the southern area against Hezbollah.
Israel issued similar warnings during its war with Hezbollah in 2003-2024, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
The Iraqi military has condemned an attack early Tuesday on a camp for an umbrella of Iranian-backed groups in northern Iraq.
The airstrike on 40th Brigade of the Popular Mobilization Forces in the city of Kirkuk killed five and wounded four, according to two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.
The military described the strikes as “a blatant targeting of Iraq.”
Iraq for years has had to walk a tightrope between the U.S. and Iranian-allied Shiite groups, including some that are part of the government.
The Israeli military said Tuesday it had completed a series of strikes targeting Hezbollah’s financial arm, al-Qard Al-Hasan.
Israel says Hezbollah uses al-Qard al-Hasan to finance its military activities.
Israel targeted several of the group’s branches in southern and eastern Lebanon last week.
Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco reported 2025 profits of $104 billion, down from the year before as the Iran war has seen its fields and facilities targeted.
Aramco released its annual results Tuesday. It planned to brief investors later in the day as the war that began Feb. 28 has seen Iranian drones and missiles target its facilities.
Aramco, formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., reported profits of $110 billion in 2024.
Aramco said its 2025 revenues were $445 billion, down from $480 billion in 2024.
The United Arab Emirates will lower the volume of missile alerts sent to mobile phones in the overnight hours.
The UAE’s National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority made the announcement late Monday night, saying that the loud blaring alarm would sound on phones from 9 a.m. until 10:30 p.m.
A standard text message chime would sound from 10:30 p.m. until 9 a.m., it said.
The blaring klaxon had sounded in the middle of the night since the war began Feb. 28. The change in the alerts signals how Gulf Arab states are trying to adjust to the idea of the war grinding onward as there’s no immediate sign of an end to the conflict.
Egypt hiked fuel prices by up to 17% on Tuesday as the war in the Middle East sent prices of oil soaring.
According to the Petroleum Ministry the cost of a liter of diesel, which is heavily relied on for public transport, increased by more than 17%. The price of the 92-octane gasoline rose by 15% and 95-octane gasoline increased by 14%.
The war has hit Egypt hard. The most populous Arab country, Egypt depends heavily on imported fuel. The Egyptian pound fell to a record low, trading at over 52 to the US dollar on Monday.
To mitigate impact of the war, the government announced a series of measures, including reducing official overseas trips and tightening fuel consumption across sectors.
The paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said on Tuesday that the end of the war will be determined by Iran.
Spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini said in a statement published in various Iranian state media and apparently in response to Trump’s remarks Monday that “Iran will determine when the war ends.”
The U.S. president pledged aggressive action against Iran if it continues to block the shipment of oil in the Strait of Hormuz.
“If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far,” Trump posted on social media. “Additionally, we will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again — Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them — But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen!”
The president said his threat was a “gift” to China, among other nations, because it relies on oil from the Middle East.
Flames rise from an oil storage facility south of the capital Tehran as strikes hit the city during the U.S.–Israel military campaign, Iran, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iraqis hold a portrait of the new successor to Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei at a bridge leading to the fortified Green Zone where the U.S. embassy is located in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
A coffin is carried during the funeral of mostly children killed in a strike Feb. 28 at a girls' elementary school in Minab, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (Abbas Zakeri/Mehr News Agency via AP)
This image taken from video provided by Iran state TV shows Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of Iran's slain supreme leader, who has been named as the Islamic Republic's next ruler, authorities announced Monday, March 9, 2026. (Iran state TV via AP)
