President Of Latvia Speaks About Putin's Obsession

What is the head of the Kremlin trying to achieve?

Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs said that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin dreams of restoring the Russian Empire as it was in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Russian propaganda and hybrid warfare indicate this.

Rinkēvičs believes that Latvia should be ready for a hybrid war and all kinds of provocations, Delfi reports.

“We also see attempts to use new technologies, for example, artificial intelligence. This is the first cyber war. (..) I can agree with the people who said a lot that our first line of defense is Ukraine. We would [better] thank the Ukrainians who are fighting than perhaps they would have to thank us,” the Latvian President said at a breakfast in Davos as part of a discussion on Ukraine.

Rinkēvičs said that it is necessary to expand the defense industry, since equipment is needed not only to help Ukraine, but also to Latvia itself.

According to the president, it is important to increase government spending on defense — by 2027 in Latvia this will be 3% of GDP.