Latvia’s Foreign Minister does not venture to ‘guess’ whether the next year will bring a just peace to Ukraine 0 7

The politician noted that she knows only one thing — Latvia, together with its European partners, will continue to assist Ukraine in every possible way next year.

At the same time, she characterized the situation with peace negotiations as encouraging, although she acknowledged that Russia is not striving for peace.

Assessing the progress in peace negotiations, Braže suggested that some issues in such negotiations always remain unresolved until the last moment. In this case, such issues include Russia's demands to seize territories that Ukraine would have to relinquish without a fight, as well as the question of international recognition of the occupied territories.

Braže emphasized that Latvia does not intend to recognize the occupied Ukrainian territories as part of Russia, and a similar position is held by a significant part of the international community. She also stressed that Ukraine is not going to give Russia the territories of Donbas that were not captured during the war, as important Ukrainian fortifications are located there, ensuring the security of the rest of the country.

The Latvian politician expressed the opinion that Europe needs to continue cooperation with partners in the United States, which helps to refine its proposed peace initiatives. Within the framework of such negotiations, understanding of the situation from the United States is growing, which allows for hopes of further pressure on Russia from the U.S., Braže believes.

Overall, the minister positively assessed the efforts of the United States to end armed conflicts in the world, although she acknowledged that the security situation globally has not improved over the past year.