– Russia will not stop, only Russia can be stopped, Karis said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Friday.
“We need to work on a long-term strategy to contain Russia,” he added.
Karins wants to lead NATO
Krisjanis Karins has largely launched his campaign and wants to replace Jens Stoltenberg as the head of NATO. He argued that the Secretary General of the Alliance should come from a country that has met the 2% defense spending target. GDP – Same as Latvia.
Given Russia's imperialist ambitions, Karines warns that the threat from Moscow will remain even after the war in Ukraine ends. “Thanks to our commitment and our investments in security, NATO must ensure that any incidents are unlikely to occur,” he appealed.
The Latvian minister is not the first senior official to warn against Russia's military ambitions. Last month, Belgian army chief Michael Hoffman said Putin might attack Moldova or the Baltic states after Kiev.
Latvian Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins at the Ministerial Conference on EU Enlargement in Berlin, Germany, November 2, 2023.
Karines will face former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas to become the next NATO Secretary General, the favorites of key NATO members such as the US, Germany and France. Stoltenberg's term ends in October this year.