WASHINGTON DC – Latvia’s Foreign Minister Baiba Braže arrived in Washington early this week with a warning that cut through the usual diplomatic doublespeak: Ukraine is holding firm, Russia is faltering, and Europe – despite its wealth and military potential – is running out of excuses to act.
Fresh off a trip that took her from Kyiv to Chernihiv, just 70 kilometers from the front, Braže said the mood in Ukraine remains steely.
“They’re not going to capitulate or give up or give away their country or identity to Russia,” she told an audience Monday at the Hudson Institute.
The question now, she suggested, is whether Europe is prepared to match that determination.
‘We are rich, we are strong – there are a lot of us’
Europe’s shortfall, Braže argued, isn’t capability. It’s confidence.
“We are rich, we are strong, there is a lot of us,” she said, dismissing doubts about whether European governments can reach 3.5 or even 5 percent of GDP on defense. Latvia already spends 5 percent.
The real problem, she said, is political hesitation. “It’s less about talking, more about doing.” Meeting NATO’s regional defense plans – not debating them – should be the baseline.
Latvia isn’t waiting: HIMARS purchases, expanded force structure, rapid mobility upgrades, cyber protection, and critical-infrastructure hardening are all underway as part of NATO’s post-2019 shift back to territorial defense.
And it’s not just money. Conscription is back and oversubscribed. Reservists train twice a year. Schools teach basic defense. Youth sign up for “New Guards” programs to learn weapons safety and survival skills.
“It costs money,” she said, adding, “But people know what to do if something arises.”
This is Braže’s eighth visit to the US since last December. Asked how the relationship has evolved, she reached back to history: US non-recognition of the Soviet occupation “literally served as the basis” for Latvia’s restored independence.
Today, the partnership is “strong and non-problematic,” especially in military and National Guard cooperation.
She also praised the new NDAA compromise as “very favorable to the Baltic states.”
Russia wants what it cannot win on the battlefield
On Ukrainian-Russian negotiations in Miami, Braže was blunt: “Ukraine wants peace. A ceasefire has been on the table since March. But Russia wants to achieve through peace negotiations what they cannot achieve on the battlefield.”
Her numbers were stark: Russia seized less than 1 percent of additional Ukrainian territory this year and has suffered “more than 280,000” losses, with nearly 1.2 million killed or severely wounded since the invasion began. Its economy, she added, is “cannibalizing” itself.
On the toughest issues – territory, security guarantees – she kept details close: “Substance must be close-held. That’s exactly what you need for success.”
With Washington debating future force posture in Europe, Braže was direct: the Baltics want more US troops.
“Deterrence works,” she said. American forces aren’t stuck in barracks – Latvia’s Selonia training area now supports brigade-size maneuvers, electronic warfare, drone integration, and battlefield lessons imported straight from Ukraine.
“More US troops: good,” she said. “Even in the winter.” She also praised Canada’s role as Latvia’s framework nation in NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence: “Super good. Excellent.”
Asked about China, Braže echoed the EU’s official “partner-competitor-rival” framing of China, but with less varnish. Beijing is enabling Russia’s war industry through dual-use tech, edging out Europe and the US in Latin American markets, and pulling ahead in AI, rare earths, and supply-chain leverage, she said.
Too many EU governments, she warned, still fail to align foreign and trade policies, producing contradictory China positions inside each capital.
Latvia’s stance: treat China as a global actor but stay realistic, transparent, and unified. “Differentiation from Russia is necessary – but clarity is necessary too.”
UN Security Council seat and Riga’s message
As Latvia prepares for its upcoming UN Security Council seat – and November presidency – Braže said Riga will use the platform to spotlight Russia’s war crimes, maritime threats, and the Kremlin’s global shadow-fleet operations.
“We’ll continue working very hard to achieve long-lasting peace in Ukraine,” she said. “That is not only in Latvia’s interest – it is in Europe’s and beyond.”
Braže didn’t come to Washington to deliver polite Baltic talking points. She came to warn that Ukraine’s will isn’t the variable in this war – Western stamina is.
Her swing through the US continues, with meetings across the administration, including a session at the State Department with Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau on Tuesday.
Her message is crisp: the real question isn’t whether Ukraine can endure. It’s whether Europe – and the West more broadly – can keep up.