Defence Minister: Latvia will actively facilitate Ukraine’s NATO integration

On Wednesday, 11 October, Defence Minister Andris Sprūds attended the NATO defence ministers' meeting in Brussels, which also included NATO-Ukraine Council work session that focused on the next steps Ukraine needs to take to become a member of the Alliance. Meeting also addressed current developments on the frontline and support provided by members of the Alliance to help Ukraine push back the Russian aggression. 

‘This was the first defence minister-level meeting in the history of NATO-Ukraine  Council. We have made the next step towards Ukraine’s full integration into Alliance and Latvia will actively facilitate this process going forward. Ukraine belongs in NATO and allies will spare no efforts or resources to make sure Ukraine joins NATO as soon as possible,’ Defence Minister Andris Sprūds said. 

Meanwhile, Latvia is fully committed to continue Ukrainian military training programme and has already trained around 3,000 Ukrainian troops this year. In September Latvia also joined the IT coalition led by Estonia and Luxembourg. Mission of this coalition is to develop secure, reliable and resilient IT infrastructure at the Ukrainian Defence Ministry and Ukrainian Armed Force units. 

As reported earlier, since Russian invasion of Ukraine, Latvia has provided Ukraine military assistance well beyond 1% of Latvia’s GDP, making Latvia one of the leading countries in terms of support afforded to Ukraine. 

Media contacts: 

MoD Military Public Affairs Department
Media Relations Section
Phone: 67335393
E-mail: prese@mod.gov.lv