Andris Kulbergs stated in his declaration that he supports active contact with French President Emmanuel Macron regarding deepening cooperation between Latvia and France in the fields of security and defense.
He reported that President Macron agreed to start negotiations with Latvia on the country's accession to the French nuclear deterrence initiative. Furthermore, a French delegation will soon arrive in Latvia to begin these discussions. President Macron also emphasized his readiness to strengthen the French military presence in Latvia, especially in the area of air defense.
Kulberg's announcement coincided with the Latvian government's withdrawal of objections against the exclusion of two Russian oligarchs—Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman—from the latest European Union (EU) sanctions list.
According to international media outlets such as the Financial Times and the Euronews channel, which cite their sources, France had previously supported Usmanov's removal from the list to facilitate the release of French citizens detained in Azerbaijan.
The statement from the Latvian government did not directly indicate a link between the French proposal to Latvia and the Baltic country's refusal to insist on keeping Usmanov and Fridman on the common sanctions list.
Nevertheless, Kulberg's statement about Macron's proposal was included in a broader press release explaining Latvia's change of position. In this note, Kulberg argued that the choice was not between a good or bad decision, but between a bad and an even worse one: the possibility of changing the status of two individuals or influencing the future of the entire sanctions system, which affects more than 2600 people and associated organizations due to Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
Despite this, the Latvian government plans to adopt national legislation to impose sanctions against both Russian oligarchs. The statement says that Latvia will use all available legal tools to prevent the release of financial funds and economic resources of these individuals within Latvia.
The news of Latvia beginning consultations on expanding the French 'nuclear umbrella' over its territory emerged on the same day that Lithuanian deputies took the first step in a process that will take at least six months to remove the ban on the presence of nuclear weapons from the country's Constitution.
The Seimas of the Lithuanian Parliament approved the start of the process to repeal Article 137 of the Constitution, which states that 'weapons of mass destruction or foreign military bases cannot be located on the territory of the Republic of Lithuania,' by a majority of 99 votes for, 13 against, and five abstentions. After the vote on adopting the constitutional amendment, scheduled for October 6, final approval is set for January 12, 2027. After this, Lithuania will be able to accept the nuclear weapons of its allies, for example, under the French nuclear deterrence agreement.
Last year, Estonian Prime Minister Kirsti Simmer announced that his country, the northernmost of the three Baltic republics, is also open to hosting F-35 fighters with nuclear capabilities from the United Kingdom on its territory.
All these Baltic countries border Russia, and Latvia and Lithuania also share a border with Belarus.