UNITED NATIONS – Latvia is ready to move quickly once it starts its first-ever United Nations Security Council term in January 2026. 

Of the 188 countries taking part in the vote, 178 cast their ballots in favor of the Eastern European nation. 

Latvian Foreign Affairs Minister Baiba Braže, who attended the vote at the U.N.’s New York City headquarters, told Fox News Digital that her country is ready to address the ongoing Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas wars. Ahead of its term on the council, Riga has its eyes set on peace for all parties involved in both conflicts.

“We shall work on the U.N. Security Council to help achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, the Middle East and other conflict regions, to strengthen global security, safeguard the international rules-based order in line with the U.N. Charter and make the work of the U.N. Security Council more effective,” Braže said in her address to the U.N. last week.

Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze speaks to the press after Latvia was elected as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council at the U.N. headquarters in New York City on June 3, 2025. (Xie E/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Beyond how the world handles Russia, Braže sees strengthening Ukraine’s ability to defend itself as a crucial part of ending the war. She noted that Ukraine is acting in accordance with Article 51 of the U.N. Charter. Braže also called Ukraine the “strongest deterrent of Russia’s aggression.”

“So, military aid, humanitarian aid, political support, moral support, everything is needed. So that is the strength, and that will lead to peace,” she told Fox News Digital. 

When asked about what a victory for Ukraine, as well as long-lasting security, would look like, Braže left it up to Kyiv.

“Ukraine will define what it sees both as peace and victory. We believe that Ukraine’s sovereignty, Ukraine’s ability to control its territory, Ukraine not accepting the occupied territories as Russian—because that’s against international law—that all are elements that will be required for both peace but also for Ukraine, considering that it has not lost the war.”