Pozņaks: Latvia should not change Ukraine support because of Trump

Reinis Pozņaks, a Latvian member of the European Parliament, says Latvia has no reason to reduce its support for Ukraine just because US President Donald Trump sharply criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in early October. In his view, the idea of easing off on Ukraine to keep good relations with Washington is mistaken and harms Latvia's security interests.

US politics is more than one president

Pozņaks points out that the US still has a separation of powers. As an example, he cites the US Supreme Court suspending Trump's trade tariffs this February. In early October, when Ukraine ran into problems with Starlink satellite communications, nine US senators, including four Republicans, demanded an investigation. The MEP believes Ukraine has strong supporters in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and that their number may grow after the midterm elections on 3 November. He also cites a poll from early October in which 34% of Americans viewed Trump's performance positively and 61% negatively.

Pozņaks adds that neither the US currently has a full ambassador in Ukraine nor Ukraine one in the US, so there are few people to resolve disagreements through diplomacy. He considers this situation temporary.

Europe's position

The MEP stresses that European leaders clearly expressed support for Ukraine and Zelensky even after Trump's statements. He notes that the NATO multinational brigade in Latvia includes soldiers from 13 countries, 12 of them European, plus Canada. Pozņaks quotes Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who said that if Ukraine stopped resisting, peace would not follow, but Soviet-style imperialism would return.

Pozņaks concludes that Latvia supports Ukraine because it serves its own security: the longer Ukraine resists Russian aggression, the fewer opportunities Russia has to threaten Latvia.