Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs said on Thursday at the Rīga Conference security and foreign policy forum that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is dreaming of the restoration of the Russian Empire and that this would be impossible without Ukraine as a component therein.
In Rinkēvičs’ view, Putin was not bluffing when he said that the collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century and that the Bolsheviks were mistaken when they destroyed the Russian Empire. He added that it is not just the Baltic States and Poland which need to be concerned about Putin’s dream of restoring the Russian empire; so should Finland and other countries.
Rinkēvičs argued that Putin has no plans to attack a NATO member state militarily at this time, but if he gets the idea that the alliance is weak, then he will test its capabilities. If, however, Putin sees an alliance that is strong and resilient and spending more and more on defence, then there will be no attack.
The first point of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s “victory plan” is an invitation to Ukraine to join NATO. Commenting on this, the Latvian president said that the invitation is less important than Ukraine’s actual accession to the alliance.
He pointed to the 2008 Bucharest NATO Summit declaration in which it was declared that Ukraine and Georgia would someday become NATO member states, adding that this promise is now 16 years old. Rinkēvičs said that an invitation is not enough. There must be a plan for Ukraine to become a full member of the alliance, and that may take another 16 years after an invitation is extended.
“I understand why diplomatic language is being used in relation to Ukraine being invited to join NATO,” the president said. “I also understand why it is being discussed now, but I do not see at the moment that there is full understanding and agreement among 32 member states that this should be done right away.”
Source: BNS
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