Does the President of Latvia support Prime Minister Evika Silina's idea, who suddenly stated her readiness to personally meet with the Russian leadership?
Is Latvia really ready for contacts with Moscow? Or is this some kind of clever diplomatic trick?
With such questions, the portal bb.lv turned to the President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs.
The opinion of the head of state was voiced by Davis Dorss, head of the media center of the Office of the President of Latvia:
– Latvia's position has always been that negotiations about Ukraine and peace in Ukraine can only take place with the participation of Ukraine, as well as that Europe must be represented at these negotiations.
All issues related to the peace process require firm European unity. For Europe to be a significant negotiating partner and to be taken seriously, it needs to become strong militarily, continue supporting Ukraine, and maintain strong pressure on Russia.
Regarding any contacts with Russia, Latvia has always emphasized the need for a clear and unified position of the European Union. The question of direct contacts between European leaders and Russia should also be resolved at the level of the European Union, with a clear goal and mandate defined. Previous experience shows that individual contacts have not yielded results.
As reported bb.lv, yesterday, while in Dubai, the Prime Minister of Latvia, Evika Silina, suddenly stated the need for direct contacts with the Russian leadership: "I think we need to engage in diplomacy. We always need to talk."
"Yes, we really need an envoy. Probably, the question is who that will be," added Silina. And she suggested an option: "I am ready to go."
Silina was warmly supported by the President of Estonia, Alar Karis: "A couple of years ago, we were sure that we should not talk to aggressors, and now we are worried that we are not at the negotiating table."
From the Editor:
Let’s move away from future Latvian-Russian contacts and switch to the quality of the work of state institutions of the Republic of Latvia.
The portal bb.lv sent questions related to Evika Silina's statement to three institutions – the Office of the President of Latvia, the Cabinet of Ministers of Latvia, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia.
We received an adequate response only from the Riga Castle, where President Edgars Rinkēvičs works. For this, we express verbal gratitude from our readers to his staff.
In turn, the two ladies responsible for media relations – Diana Egle (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and Madara Apsalone (government) – demonstratively neglected their duties for which they receive a salary. Specifically, they did not respond to the questions posed.
Here there are two options: either the employees at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the government have become lazy, or they were stunned to learn about Prime Minister Silina's desire to engage with the Russian leadership.
