Latvia prepares for first UN Security Council term amid global conflicts

UNITED NATIONS – Latvia is ready to move quickly once it starts its first-ever United Nations Security Council term in January 2026. 

Of the 188 countries taking part in the vote, 178 cast their ballots in favor of the Eastern European nation. 

Latvian Foreign Affairs Minister Baiba Braže, who attended the vote at the U.N.’s New York City headquarters, told Fox News Digital that her country is ready to address the ongoing Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas wars. Ahead of its term on the council, Riga has its eyes set on peace for all parties involved in both conflicts.

“We shall work on the U.N. Security Council to help achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, the Middle East and other conflict regions, to strengthen global security, safeguard the international rules-based order in line with the U.N. Charter and make the work of the U.N. Security Council more effective,” Braže said in her address to the U.N. last week.

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When it comes to Israel and Hamas, Braže emphasized the need to get aid to the people of Gaza but said that Latvia did not have a position on how it should be done, despite international criticism of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Braže expressed the need for the best solution to the aid issue in Gaza would be “whatever is more efficient” and that she believes both sides will be able to work on that. Overall, Braže was focused on one key point: getting aid to vulnerable people in Gaza.

The war in Ukraine hits closer to home for Braže. Latvia, like Ukraine, was part of the Soviet Union and gained its independence in 1991 after the USSR dissolved. She told Fox News Digital that Russian President Vladimir Putin is using “traditional Russian-Soviet tactics,” such as delays in negotiations, but she believes there are ways to pressure the Kremlin into peace.

Braže also said that Latvia “fully supports” President Donald Trump’s vision of peace through strength to quash the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

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“Currently we don’t see a single indication that Russia wants peace. It’s bluffing, it’s asking impossible demands from the U.S., from Ukraine and others, and then blaming Ukraine for not accepting those impossible demands,” she said. 

Braže told Fox News Digital that limiting Russia’s income and its access to technology will be crucial to securing a stable and lasting peace. This would also mean intervening in potentially threatening partnerships, such as the one between China and Russia.

“Making sure that the oil price stays low and that its oil and gas exports are affected and limited is very important,” she said.

The foreign minister accused China of being the “main enabler” of Russia through its exports to the country. She said that Russia is able to “cannibalize” parts of the exports it gets from China and put them toward its missile program.

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Beyond how the world handles Russia, Braže sees strengthening Ukraine’s ability to defend itself as a crucial part of ending the war. She noted that Ukraine is acting in accordance with Article 51 of the U.N. Charter. Braže also called Ukraine the “strongest deterrent of Russia’s aggression.”

“So, military aid, humanitarian aid, political support, moral support, everything is needed. So that is the strength, and that will lead to peace,” she told Fox News Digital. 

When asked about what a victory for Ukraine, as well as long-lasting security, would look like, Braže left it up to Kyiv.

“Ukraine will define what it sees both as peace and victory. We believe that Ukraine’s sovereignty, Ukraine’s ability to control its territory, Ukraine not accepting the occupied territories as Russian—because that’s against international law—that all are elements that will be required for both peace but also for Ukraine, considering that it has not lost the war.”