Washington
CNN
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Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkweis said on Wednesday that European leaders should not be afraid of provoking Russian President Vladimir Putin and the international community should not pressure Ukraine to make concessions to end the war.
In an exclusive interview with CNN in Washington, D.C., Rinkowicz also outlined Latvia’s key goals for NATO’s approach to the East Coast — namely, a long-term military presence — and the growing food crisis caused by Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports. expressed concern about
Rinkowi’s visit to DC came as US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said “Ukraine is facing a critical moment on the battlefield” and the Biden administration unveiled a new installment of military aid For Ukraine – a move to consolidate Kyiv as the war nears the end of its fourth month. The Latvian foreign minister will meet with lawmakers and officials from the Biden administration in the country’s capital ahead of a NATO summit in Madrid later this month.
Although Rinkowis did not name names in his criticism of European leaders who he says maintain a “fear” of upsetting Putin, he told CNN he was referring to “people who from time to time but were openly saying they don’t want to see him humiliated or that we need to provide some off-ramp” – a swipe at French President Emmanuel Macron, who said in early June, “We don’t want to humiliate Russia so that the day the fighting stops, we can build an exit ramp through diplomatic means.”
Rinkowis said such an approach “is not rational,” telling CNN that “the mindset in many capitals needs to change.” He also noted that diplomatic outreach by world leaders to Putin in an effort to end the war had not yielded results, and added that he believed the Russians “can only be stopped by Ukrainians, only their By fighting.”
The foreign minister said the war in Ukraine was bigger than the Russian leader, noting that they “would not be able to wage a war without the support of the population … without such brainwashing of the people through propaganda channels.”
He praised the United States for military support for Ukraine, and said that European allies should increase their wartime industrial production, noting that “we have more than 20 years to reduce the military, all these things.” And then now all of a sudden, we need to protect ourselves, we need to arm Ukraine.”
In addition, Rinkweis told CNN that “no one should be pushing Ukraine to provide Russia with concessions”—concessions such as ceding the territory to Moscow to prevent war. Although this may work for some time, the foreign minister expressed doubts that it would be a permanent deterrent to future Russian aggression.
“Let’s not make this mistake again. Russia is not fighting this war to expand NATO or keep Ukraine out of NATO or the European Union. It’s about destroying Ukraine, getting the land, restoring the empire.”
To prevent a future military offensive by Moscow, Rinkweis stated that “Russia must be in a position where its war and economic machine is in such a position that it cannot launch any military offensive,” and although he would not allow sanctions, The present war does not see the end, they can help prevent the future.
As NATO leaders prepare to meet in the Spanish capital later this month, Rinkuvi said Latvia, which borders both Russia and Belarus, sees very specific measures that must be taken to increase security in the Baltic. The most important of which is the long-term presence of NATO forces.
The foreign minister told CNN that it was important to send “a clear message to Russia” that this is NATO territory, and that “not an inch” would be acknowledged, acknowledging that Madrid would only be the beginning of a discussion and decision process.
“What we want to avoid is a situation where parts of the Baltic are suddenly occupied and then liberated by NATO troops and then we get new Buka or Mariupol,” Rinkweis said. Referring to the names of the regions of Ukraine, there were widespread atrocities committed.
“So we’re talking about (internal), it’s a refusal to enter the Baltic, a change of kind of punishment (via) for defense and resistance through refusal (via) is,” he said.