Ināra Mūrniece, Defence Minister of Latvia, believes it is premature to believe that Russia, despite significant losses in the full-scale war in Ukraine, is weakened and incapable of new "strategic surprises".

Source: Mūrniece during a meeting of the defence ministers of the 12 countries of the Northern Group, which are part of NATO, in the Polish city of Legionów near Warsaw, as stated by the press service of the Latvian Defence Ministry. 

The meeting participants agreed that Russia's aggressive stance directly threatens the security, stability, and prosperity of the entire Euro-Atlantic region. Therefore, it is extremely important to continue providing military support to Ukraine in its struggle against Russia's brutal aggression.

"Despite the usual threats to the security of our region, we must also be prepared for the fact that Russia will continue to use its wide arsenal of hybrid and nuclear threats to intimidate and weaken the support of Ukraine from the West," the Minister of Defence of Latvia believes.

"Therefore, we must remain united and consistent in our support for Ukraine and continue to be the driving force that consolidates and unites Western democracies in all kinds of support for Ukraine," she stressed.

Discussing the priorities of the Northern Group countries at the NATO summit in Vilnius, the defence ministers expressed their belief that the summit's decisions should strengthen the alliance's deterrence and defence capabilities in the region to counter current and future threats from Russia.

The Northern Group is an informal cooperation forum with 12 countries – Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland, the three Baltic countries, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and the UK.

Background: NATO is finalising the reformation of the joint strategy of countering the Russian threat and terrorism against the background of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Kremlin's constant threats.

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