On 13 December 2023 in Riga, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Krišjānis Kariņš, met with the Vice Speaker of the Parliament of Ukraine (Verkhovna Rada), Olena Kondratiuk.
The officials discussed current issues of bilateral cooperation between Latvia and Ukraine, including Latvia’s commitment to go ahead with training and rehabilitation of Ukrainian soldiers next year as well, and with reconstruction efforts in the Chernihiv region.
During the conversation, a special focus was placed on the forthcoming European Council, at which the Member States of the European Union are to decide on Ukraine’s further path towards integration into the European Union. Krisjānis Kariņš commended the Ukrainian Parliament’s ability to effectively take decisions for the further implementation of the necessary reforms despite wartime conditions. “Ukraine has been able to pass laws in recent months in line with the recommendations of the European Commission, as well as responding to comments from EU Member States ahead of this week’s expected decision to launch EU accession talks with Ukraine,” the Foreign Minister said.
As the Foreign Minister expressing his understanding and solidarity with Ukraine, he agreed with Olena Kondratyuk’s opinion that decisive decisions by the EU and NATO to support Ukraine should not be delayed, because Ukraine pays with its people’s lives for every new day at war. Krišjānis Kariņš reconfirmed Latvia’s continued support for the Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine and further decisions to provide military, political, economic and financial assistance to Ukraine.
