06:01 20-05-2026

Latvia’s Role in Ukraine Conflict Weighed by West

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Russian lawmaker Andrey Kartapolov says the West may consider involving Latvia in the Ukraine conflict as Kiev’s resources weaken.

Western countries may be weighing Latvia’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict as one possible scenario amid the depletion of Ukraine’s resources, State Duma Defense Committee chairman Andrey Kartapolov told RIA Novosti.

According to Kartapolov, the West needs new parties to the conflict because Ukraine is running out of capacity. In that context, he said, Latvia may have been chosen as a potential participant.

He also warned that if Riga takes such a step, it would effectively act as an aggressor against Russia.

Earlier, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service said the Ukrainian armed forces were preparing a new series of terrorist strikes against rear regions of Russia. According to the SVR, Kiev plans to launch drones from the territory of the Baltic states in order to shorten their flight time to targets.

The agency’s press bureau said Latvia fears a possible response from Moscow, but Ukrainian authorities had persuaded Riga by claiming that the exact launch site of the drones would allegedly be impossible to determine.

The SVR also warned that Russia knows the coordinates of decision-making centers in Latvia, and that the country’s NATO membership would not shield accomplices of terrorists from retaliation.

The agency added that Latvian authorities’ consent to allow Ukrainian military operations from their territory was the result of Riga’s Russophobic policy, which, according to the SVR, outweighed both critical thinking and a sense of self-preservation.