Moscow is “not in a position” to make demands on Europe’s security, says Latvian prime minister

Russia is “not in a position” to demand concessions from Europeans regarding the security of the continent, Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said on Friday in an interview with AFP.

“Europe is the military power. Europe is many times more powerful militarily, economically, and in terms of leadership,” the official said after an EU summit in Dublin, adding that the Russians “are not in a position to make demands.” Europe, which had demanded to play a greater role in US President Donald Trump's efforts to end the war in Ukraine, hopes to have obtained a place at the negotiating table, and appointed its spokespeople on Friday. It will be represented by the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the EU institutions in the upcoming talks on Ukraine, which Mr Kulbergs called a “good decision”.

Agreement on an exchange of prisoners: a “good sign” but “insufficient”

According to a senior EU official, this subject having now been resolved, Europe will be able to concentrate on discussing the content of the negotiations with Russia. But Latvia's leader does not believe Russian President Vladimir Putin wants peace in Ukraine, despite US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi, which ended with an agreement between Moscow and kyiv on their largest prisoner exchange to date. This agreement is a “good sign”, but is “insufficient”, he said, estimating that “if Putin wants real peace, then there must be a ceasefire”.

The head of government believes that the United States should exert more pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine. “The Americans have guts, and they could push Russia towards real peace negotiations,” he stressed to Agence France-Presse, adding that this could be illustrated by sanctions against Russia and the supply of “real weapons” to Ukraine.