On 2 February, in scope of the official visit of the President of Poland Andrzej Duda to Latvia, President of Latvia Egils Levits and President of Poland Andrzej Duda took part in a discussion on the importance of helping Ukraine with the war against Russia and joint efforts for restoring global international order.

President of Poland opened the discussion by highlighting the ideological objectives pursued by Russia in war against Ukraine. ‘Putin is not trying to restore the Soviet empire. He wants the return of Tzarist empire. In 2008, when Russia attacked Georgia, we saw Russia’s imperial ‘stranglehold’ for the first time,’ President Duda said.

President Levits noted that democracy in Ukraine clearly shows that authoritarian rule can be broken, something Russian rulers will never accept. ‘It is a war between authoritarian dictator and a democratic country,’ Egils Levits stressed.

Assistance of West to Ukraine was also a key topic discussed by presidents. Andrzej Duda said that European countries that are geographically further away from Ukraine treat Russian aggression as something abstract, something that is not happening to them. ‘We, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia must continue to explain West what we have gone through and what Ukraine is currently experiencing,’ President Duda concluded.

‘Our response to Russian invasion of Ukraine was clear and firm - we must help Ukraine win the war and also continue to build our own military capabilities to show Russia that an attack on a sovereign country will be devastating for Russia. That is the cost of peace,’ Egils Levits added.

In conclusion, presidents of Latvia and Poland spoke about how to restore global international order. ‘It is not only an attack on Ukraine but an attack on the whole Western world, democratic political systems and international law. This aggression, this war is a concern of all 193 member states of the United Nations,’ President Levits stressed.

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