Western countries should not only strengthen sanctions against Russia, but also closely monitor that they are implemented and Russia cannot circumvent them, Ambassador-at-Large of the Latvian Foreign Ministry, Assistant Secretary General of NATO for Public Diplomacy in 2020-2023 Baiba Braže has said.

Braže said during the 16th annual Kyiv Security Forum, founded by Arseniy Yatsenyuk's Open Ukraine Foundation that they must pay more attention to containing Russia, which requires new sanctions and their implementation. This should be cooperation with partners through the U.S. Treasury, through the EU, to identify the gaps where Russia imports the parts and elements it needs, and to close them.

The ambassador added that support for Ukraine should be transformed into concrete decisions in the military, economic, financial and diplomatic dimensions.

According to her, Latvia is currently providing support to Ukraine at the level of 1% of GDP, and this level will increase.

We expect that other allies will provide more assistance to Ukraine and we are talking not only about large contracts, but also about increasing investments in defense, Baiba Braže said.

The 16th annual Kyiv Security Forum, organized to mobilize transatlantic support for Ukraine, takes place on March 21-22. The slogan of the current forum: Ukraine's Call to the World: Together, We Prevail.