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Lithuania's Foreign Minister Landsbergis met with his Latvian counterpart Kariņš: "Ukraine's victory must be a strategic goal for all of us"

Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

2023.10.16

On 16 October in Vilnius, Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis will meet with the new Latvian Foreign Minister Krišjānis Kariņš.

The chiefs of diplomacy of both countries discussed regional security issues and continuous support for Ukraine in its fight.

"With more and more hot spots worldwide, we unanimously agreed on the need to maintain attention, increase and accelerate Western military support for Ukraine as it continues to fight for us all against Russia's aggression. Ukraine's victory must be a strategic goal for all of us. Otherwise, there will be serious geopolitical consequences in Russia's neighbourhood, the Baltic Sea region and the international system. The signs are already visible. The only way to maintain stability is through a clear demonstration of the Western leadership," Landsbergis said after the meeting.

The Lithuanian and Latvian Foreign Ministers condemned the Hamas' attack on Israel.

"Israel has the right to defend itself, of course, following the principles of international humanitarian law. Hamas must immediately release hostages without further conditions. With Kariņš, we discussed the need to avoid the spread of this conflict, as it would be in the interest of the countries seeking to destabilize the international system further. The West must contribute constructively to the search for a solution, and the Middle East region expects it from us," said the head of Lithuania's diplomacy.

The Foreign Ministers also discussed bilateral cooperation projects and stressed the need to accelerate the implementation of Rail Baltica and decouple from the Russian power grid in early 2025. The Latvian Foreign Minister thanked Lithuania for helping to protect Latvia's border with Belarus from irregular migration flows.

The Lithuanian and Latvian Foreign Ministers conferred this year's Balts' Award on a famous scholar of the Baltic languages' history, dialectology, geolinguistics, and a well-known translator Edmunds Trumpa.

In 2022, the Latvian translator Dace Meiere received the annual Balts' Award.