On 7 March, President of Latvia Egils Levits welcomed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the Riga Castle. Meeting between both officials focused on all current security challenges faced by the region, Putin’s war against Ukraine, and closer transatlantic economic partnership.
President of Latvia thanked US Secretary of State for visiting Baltic States, thus sending a strong and important signal in current geopolitical circumstances. He also thanked US for sending additional troops to Baltic region and Latvia. Officials discussed all support measures available to European Union (EU) and NATO that can be used to help Ukraine resist invasion by the Putin regime. President Levits mentioned that, on top of current and envisaged assistance, Ukraine should also be granted EU candidate country status immediately and 8 member states have already supported such step.
Egils Levits urged US to reassess the current security situation in the region and deploy additional troops and capabilities to the Baltics. Secretary Blinken reiterated official position of the US: attack on one Ally will be considered an attack on all NATO members. Egils Levits and Anthony Blinken also discussed the need to adjust NATO’s 2030 Strategic Concept in the light of Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Meeting then moved on to EU and US sanctions against Russia imposed due to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Both officials underlined the need to continue sanctions to prevent Russia from accessing financial resources to continue the war.
President Levits also mentioned the economic and geopolitical impact of the Three Seas Initiative. He thanked US for its sustained interest in this project and high-level delegation at this year’s Three Seas Summit, which will take place in Riga this June.
