Weakening Russia's military capabilities is the most direct and cheapest way to achieve peace in Ukraine - Braze

RIGA - Weakening Russia's military capabilities is the most direct and cheapest way to achieve peace in Ukraine, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze (New Unity), who is attending the informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Turkey, told LETA.

She noted that one of the main issues discussed at the informal talks was the containment and deterrence of Russia. Braze welcomed the fact that the European Union (EU) has agreed on the next package of sanctions against Russia, as well as the expectations for the Russia-Ukraine talks.

"It is not yet clear whether the talks will succeed, whether this is the beginning of a process or yet another attempt by the Kremlin's "butcher" to pull the wool over the eyes of the international community," the Latvian foreign minister said.

She noted that it remains to be seen what the US will decide on its sanctions against Russia, as a strong sanctions package has been developed. The international community has the tools to further support Ukraine, Braze explained. Nor is there any sign that support for Ukraine will wane.

On how NATO members can support Ukraine, the Latvian foreign minister explained that over the past three years, defense spending by the Alliance's member states has increased significantly, with a consequent increase in defense orders and a strengthening of the military industry. Braze stressed that there is more defense and deterrence capability in production, which provides more opportunities to assist Ukraine.

She said that strengthening Ukraine's own defense industry, which is an important element of Ukraine's capabilities, is essential, but all this needs international support. More orders from Ukraine are needed, more financial investment is needed to enable Ukraine to develop and produce its own industry, Braze explained.

Asked whether the informal talks had crystallized the issues that would be on the agenda of the forthcoming NATO summit in The Hague, the Latvian foreign minister stressed that defense spending was one of them, but that a common understanding of the global situation was no less important. This is not only true for the war in Ukraine, but also for the situation in the Middle East, Braze added.

As to whether other agreements could be reached at the summit in The Hague, Braze pointed out that NATO is a defense alliance and that is its core mission. She mentioned that military experts have developed a new NATO Deterrence and Defense Concept, which includes defense plans for our region. They set sufficiently high capability targets for countries to achieve in order to successfully provide deterrence and defense.

"The countries are serious. The question is how quickly and which countries will be able to increase defense spending and to what needs. Each NATO member has its own challenges. It is clear within the Alliance that defense spending must continue to increase, which is why the Latvian government formally decided to allocate 5 percent of gross domestic product to defense and security. This is what we expect from other countries," said Braze.

She pointed out that discussions had also taken place on issues of importance to Italy and Spain, for example, on what is happening in North Africa and the Middle East, both in relation to terrorist and organized crime groups and Russia's so-called "Africa corps".