Excellencies,
Today, we speak about people.
The people of Ukraine — children, families, and communities — whose rights should be protected by international humanitarian law and international human rights law, yet whose rights Russia violates every single day.
Russia’s brutality has stolen childhoods. It has forcibly taken Ukrainian children from their homes, their families, and their identity.
It has arbitrarily detained thousands of Ukrainian civilians.
It subjects prisoners of war to torture, inhuman and cruel treatment, sexual and other grave abuses.
These are not abstract violations. They are shattered lives, broken families, and futures put on hold.
These are war crimes.
We see this. And we cannot look away.
Last week, with the support of the Latvian Association of Travel Agents, a group of Ukrainian children visited Latvia. I had the privilege of talking with them.
They spoke about studying amid constant airstrikes, without electricity and heating in the winter cold caused by targeted Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
They told about educational institutions that have become targets of missile attacks.
I was struck by their resilience and extraordinary strength of spirit. But I also saw something no child should ever have to carry.
Some of them had not been home for years. Their homes have been destroyed or are located in occupied territory or an active war zone. Some had lost loved ones.
They have learned to recognise, by sound alone, which drones are flying overhead and which are the most deadly.
No child anywhere in the world should have to grow up with that knowledge.
We cannot just stand by. This year, Latvia’s financial support helped “Save Ukraine” return 15 Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied territories to safety. We also continue funding the documentation of Russia’s crimes, children’s rehabilitation, and the rebuilding of schools and other essential services in Ukraine.
In 2025, Latvia provided humanitarian aid to Ukrainian children totaling more than 3 million euros.
Dear colleagues!
We underscore the urgent need to complete exchanges of prisoners of war, secure the release of all unlawfully detained civilians, and ensure the safe return of all internees and civilians who have been forcibly transferred or unlawfully deported, including thousands of Ukrainian children.
Our response must be collective, principled, and unwavering. We urge every country to impose targeted sanctions on those responsible for these crimes.
Silence and inaction only embolden the perpetrator.
As a member of the UN Security Council, Latvia has been keeping and will keep Russia’s systematic atrocities against the Ukrainian people high on the international agenda. We will not allow these crimes to fade from the world’s attention.
Accountability for war crimes has no expiration date.
Latvia remains steadfast in supporting the return of Ukrainian children and Prisoners of the war.
We are also ready to serve as a safe pathway for returning the deported.
We continue to support “Save Ukraine”, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, and the UN ILC Fund.
Every child belongs with their family. Every civilian belongs at home. Every prisoner of war deserves to return.
Latvia will continue to stand with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people until a just and lasting peace is achieved in Ukraine.
I thank you.
Slava Ukraini!