In Tallinn, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held his first meeting with the new Prime Minister of Latvia, Andris Kulbergs.
The Head of State congratulated Andris Kulbergs on his recent appointment and wished him continued success.
“We are always glad to see our Latvian friends. We know that we can count on your support. We are grateful that we have such excellent relations between our nations. And we thank Latvia for all the support it has provided to Ukraine throughout this horrific war,” the President said.
Andris Kulbergs spoke about the priorities of his government and assured Ukraine and Ukrainians currently living in Latvia of his support.
The President of Ukraine and the Prime Minister of Latvia signed a Drone Deal. This is already the sixth agreement in this format that our country has concluded with partners. The Drone Deal opens up many opportunities for Ukraine and Latvia in joint production, above all in cooperation for defense, which is essential given all the security challenges.
Latvia will help strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities: this includes support in the areas of drones, air defense, and missile defense capabilities. It provides for the supply of defense products, financing of Ukrainian production, the development of defense cooperation with Ukraine, and the exchange of technologies, experience, and knowledge, including in building an integrated air defense system.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy informed the Prime Minister about Ukraine’s air defense needs and thanked Latvia for supporting the PURL initiative. The Prime Minister of Latvia informed him about the preparation of the next contributions.
During the meeting, they also discussed sanctions pressure on Russia, above all strengthening sanctions against Russia’s shadow fleet, which uses, in particular, the Baltic Sea to transport energy resources in circumvention of sanctions.
