Latvia's defense minister: Ukraine has right to defend itself with all necessary means

Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds said this in Brussels on Tuesday before a meeting of the EU defense ministers.

According to Spruds, further military support for Ukraine is very important, including the provision of air defense systems. He also stressed the need to employ actively the drone capability coalition for Ukraine.

Commenting on the issue of striking targets inside Russia with Western weapons, Spruds stressed that Ukraine has the right to defend itself "with all necessary means." Therefore, Latvia supports all actions by Ukraine aimed at protecting its sovereignty and independence.

The minister said that in these critical days, aid should be provided to Ukraine as soon as possible, so Riga and other Baltic countries are calling on European partners to provide practical assistance to Kyiv.

Spruds noted that Putin had provided some kind of "negotiations" for some time, but the West must understand that it is dealing with a war criminal. Therefore, in this regard, it is necessary to concentrate not on talks with Putin, but on military support for Ukraine.

"We should speak from the position of strength, not weakness, from the position of Ukrainian strength, but also from the strength of the EU and NATO," he said.