24 September 2025

The President of the Republic of Latvia gave a speech at the Fifth Crimea Platform Summit

“This is where the war started back in 2014. The war did not start in 2022, it started in 2014. That is when Russia broke the international law attacking Ukraine’s territory, integrity and independence. The core idea of the Crimean Platform is to put an end to the occupation of Crimea, to remind everybody that Crimea is Ukraine.”

Edgars Rinkēvičs, the President of the Republic of Latvia, reconfirmed Latvia’s commitment to stand with Ukraine and emphasized that Latvia will not recognise the attempted annexation of Crimea, Sevastopol, or any other region of Ukraine.

Latvia recalls that, together with Lithuania and Estonia, the country restored its independence and sovereignty after nearly half a century of Russian occupation. However, Ukraine, including Crimea, should not have to wait that long.