Latvia opposes sending NATO troops to Ukraine

BERLIN

Latvia on Wednesday rejected French President Emmanuel Macron’s idea of sending NATO troops to Ukraine.

“Sending troops is not the issue what Ukraine actually is asking us now,” Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina told a news conference in Berlin following her meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“They are asking for different things, and that’s why I believe we have to concentrate on those issues that Ukraine is asking us, and we not have to figure out something else which Ukraine is not asking right now,” she added.

She underlined that Western allies should focus on procurement and delivery of weapons and ammunition Ukraine urgently needs to defend itself against Russia.

“Now Latvia and Germany are participating in Czechia's initiative (to supply artillery shells for Ukraine), and we are buying ammunition outside Europe as well, for delivering much faster what Ukraine needs now,” she said.

Silina said Latvia, together with the UK, has set the goal of delivering a million drones to Ukraine, and both countries are working hard to realize that goal within a year.