On 31 January 2024, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Krišjānis Kariņš, had meetings with the spouse of the President of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, and the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister, Olha Stefanishyna.
The Foreign Minister, as he met with the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, highlighted Latvia’s steadfast support to Ukraine and underlined the need for reaching out to allies in the EU and NATO efforts so as to achieve broader support to Ukraine. Krišjānis Kariņš also noted that Latvia was rendering assistance to approximately 60 thousand Ukrainian refugees and 4600 students studying in Latvian schools. The Minister underlined the significant contribution in support of Ukraine provided by the Latvian society – a contribution that has not dwindled regardless of entering the second year since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Krišjānis Kariņš said that Latvia was determined to continue working to hold Russia accountable for its war crimes, including the illegal deportation of more than 20,000 Ukrainian children from the temporary occupied territories of Ukraine.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the First Lady of Ukraine also met with representatives from non-governmental organizations providing support to Ukraine, as well as the members of the Ukrainian diaspora and Ukrainian refugees who have found safety in Latvia.
The meeting with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister, Olha Stefanishyna, addressed Ukraine’s progress in its integration into the European Union and recent developments in relation to closer cooperation with NATO.
During his meeting with Olha Stefanishyna, Krišjānis Kariņš underlined that the Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine was a contribution to security in the region as a whole; therefore, Latvia was fully supporting it and would provide its input towards the adoption of the necessary decisions.
On 31 January and 1 February 2024, Riga is hosting an international conference addressing the issue of Ukrainian children, “Russia’s War on Children”. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is one of its organizers.
