Latvia will transfer to Ukraine all its Stinger man-portable air-defense systems.

Ināra Mūrniece, Minister of Defense of Latvia, voiced this.

The statement was made at a meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine.

The air defense systems will be delivered to Ukraine as soon as possible.

“Latvia responded to Ukraine’s request for the supply of air defense systems and decided to transfer to Ukraine all the Stinger MANPADS that we still have. We will do everything possible to deliver them to Ukraine as soon as possible,” Mūrniece announced.

In addition, Latvia continues to implement the training program for Ukrainian servicemen.

Latvia’s aim was to double the number of Ukrainian soldiers trained in the country this year compared to 2022.

“Now we see that we will be able to train even more servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at various levels. I am sure that by the end of the year, Latvia will train almost three thousand soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Ināra Mūrniece said.

At the same time, the Minister of Defense of Latvia emphasized that Riga, together with other allies, is working on a new initiative to train soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Latvia.

As previously reported, in February 2022, the Latvian government already decided to transfer Stinger MANPADS to Ukraine. This aid was agreed with the US.

FIM-92 Stinger is a man-portable anti-aircraft missile system of the “surface-to-air” class developed by the American company General Dynamics.

This weapon is designed to defeat low-flying helicopters and enemy aircraft at oncoming and catch-up flight courses in the condition of natural and infrared countermeasures.