NATO and EU member states have clearly said that Ukraine should win the war - Levits

RIGA - NATO and EU member states have clearly said that Ukraine should win the war, Latvian President Egils Levits said in an interview with TV24.

He said that when the war started out in Ukraine, the world needed certain time to understand that the Russians will not succeed in Ukraine easily. The president believes that, considering the long-term lethargy and illusions in relations to Russia, countries recovered quite fast, seeing the brutal reality.

"Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians and Poles always noted that Russia is an aggressive country, unfortunately, others did not take it seriously. It should be said that democracies also make mistakes. Democracies were illusional in relation to Russia," said Levits.

He underscored that communication of NATO member states has become much closer, especially on the top political level, The Bucharest Nine (B9) has been formed, including the NATO Eastern Flank countries. The president said that Finland might join B9 as after it joins NATO, the alliance will have the longest border with Russia - 1,300 kilometers. Levits said that NATO has increased defense of its Eastern Flank.

Speaking about the slow decisions making within NATO in relation to Ukraine, Levits underscored that NATO consists of 30 countries and it requires huge work to achieve agreements.

"Latvia has been working actively, largely defining the agenda for NATO policy in relation to Russia, its attack on Ukraine. Our stance has always been right because we understand Russia's aggression. Other countries farther away from Russia might think it is somewhat irrelevant," the president said.

"Ukraine may not lose. Also NATO and EU member states clearly say that Ukraine should win. The Baltics and Poles did everything possible to convince NATO and EU that this is the right goal and way to ensure peace and security in Europe," said Levits.

He said that it was an illusion of the West - security in Europe together with Russia. Now NATO has admitted that Russia is an aggressive country. "We should invest in security, the armed forces, their quality so that it is immediately clear for Russia that an attack on any NATO state will mean loss for Russia," said Levits.