UN General Assembly
2022

We, the law-abiding States Members of the United Nations, are responsible for supporting Ukraine’s self- defence and stopping the aggressor. Russia’s ability to finance its war on Ukraine must be limited. Global sanctions in the areas of finance, trade, transport and energy, as well as restrictive measures against individuals and legal entities, must be maintained and strengthened. Belarus, being equally responsible for enabling Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, is also being sanctioned. Since the beginning of the war, Latvia has spent more than 0.8 per cent of its gross domestic product on military, economic, financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. We stand with the brave people of Ukraine, whose heroic defence is seeing success. Today we learned that a partial mobilization has been declared in Russia, as its once-mighty army is overwhelmed. The blitzkrieg envisioned by President Putin has turned into a long nightmare. In another sign of desperation, Russia plans to hold illegal referendums in the next few days on the annexation of the occupied territories to the Russian Federation, which is in blatant contravention of both Ukrainian and international law. Latvia will not recognize the legitimacy of those referendums, or their results, and I urge the international community to do the same.