The Trump administration has responded robustly to Russian threats against NATO ally Latvia. As U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Tammy Bruce put it on Tuesday, “The United States keeps all of its NATO commitments.”The moral cause of freedom aside, NATO continues to serve Americans by consolidating a democratic peace in Europe that facilitates vast and growing economic opportunities. Alongside their U.S. investments, imports of U.S. goods and services by NATO member states accounted for nearly $1.5 trillion in 2025, for example.But Latvia, as with Poland and its Baltic state companions in Estonia and Lithuania, is a truly superb, pro-American ally. Latvia will spend 4.9%-of-GDP on defense in 2026, well above U.S. GDP defense spending and one of the highest allocations in NATO.
Russia falsely claims that Latvia is allowing Ukrainian drone forces to operate from its territory and thus skirt Russian air defense networks. This claim reflects Russia’s growing concern over Ukraine’s growing ability to penetrate its air defense networks.
Last weekend, Ukraine succeeded in launching a dramatic strike on energy targets in Moscow. Russia also heavily scaled down a major annual military parade, fearing that it would be targeted. Blaming Latvia for allowing Ukrainian attacks, Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes to distract from his inability to protect the Russian capital.
