Latvia's position is clear - Ukraine's long-term security can best be guaranteed by membership of NATO and EU - ambassador

RIGA - Latvia's position is clear - Ukraine's long-term security can best be guaranteed by membership of NATO and the European Union (EU), Latvian Ambassador to Ukraine Andrejs Pildegovics, who last week presented his credentials to Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister and former Ambassador to Latvia Yevhen Perebyinis, told LETA.

Asked to comment on efforts to negotiate a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia and how to prevent Russia from breaking any agreements, as was the case with the Budapest Memorandum, under which Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees, Pildegovics said that Ukraine's history is a bitter and hard lesson. The violations of the Budapest Memorandum are a clear example of Russia's unreliability when signing letters of intent or documents that do not provide for concrete safeguards and mechanisms.

In Pildegovics' words, Latvia once chose the safest mechanism - membership of NATO and the EU. It is also Latvia's position that Ukraine's long-term security could best be guaranteed by membership of Euro-Atlantic structures. According to Pildegovics, if this is not possible in the next few years because of the position taken by some EU member states, a second best solution should be found.

The ambassador added that only those countries that Ukraine trusts can provide security guarantees to it. These are the NATO and EU member states that have clearly demonstrated during the war that they are on the side of international law, of the UN Charter, and that they are the countries that help Ukraine not only in words but also in deeds to counter Russian aggression.

"What the mechanism of security guarantees will be, I cannot say at the moment. It is a subject of negotiations at the highest level between NATO and EU leaders, defense experts, Ukrainian diplomats. It is the president of Ukraine who has a key role to play, because only the president of Ukraine, the Ukrainian parliament and the Ukrainian people can take the final decision on the future of their country," said the Latvian ambassador to Ukraine.

Asked whether a potential peace deal could be reached in the foreseeable future, or whether the war would be frozen, followed by several years of uncertainty, Pildegovics said that under US President Donald Trump, serious attempts have been being made to find a lasting solution to end the war that would include security guarantees for Ukraine, its statehood and an independent foreign policy. In the ambassador's view, these attempts are being made with full responsibility and determination.

The ambassador said that the fundamental problem is Russia's foreign policy and its objectives, because it basically wants to subordinate the territory and state of Ukraine to its ideology, thinking and foreign policy objectives. He pointed out that this can be seen in Ukraine day and night - Russia has not stopped its murderous actions, attacking Ukraine with drones and missiles, including on civilian targets.

"The intensity of the fighting remains high. Russian forces are trying to expand the occupied territories both in the Donetsk region, in Zaporizhia in the south, and in the Sumi region in the north of Ukraine. For the time being, we cannot talk about any breakthrough in the peace talks. The US, the UK, European leaders, including the Baltic states, are trying to develop a mechanism of guarantees", the ambassador said.

He added that efforts were also being made to support Ukrainian statehood through the prism of European integration, but it is clear that peace conditions that would limit Ukrainian statehood, impose limited sovereignty on Ukraine or fundamentally alter Ukraine's territorial integrity would not be acceptable to the Ukrainian people or to Europe.

"We cannot accept a peace that rewards the aggressor state. Diplomats have a lot of work to do at the moment, the negotiation phase is active. Of course, we are also learning a lot from previous mistakes, including the so-called Minsk 1, Minsk 2, the Budapest Memorandum. Innovative, bold, comprehensive solutions are being sought, but as much as we would like to, we are not close to such a solution yet", the ambassador said.

He also stressed that Russia is not ready to come to the negotiating table and give up its positions. Pildegovics stressed that work on this issue will continue, but one cannot be naive and expect the outcome to be very close.