Latvia not under threat, says Russian ambassador

Russian Ambassador to Latvia Alexander Veshnyakov, interviewed by LTV, reassured viewers that Latvia faces no threat from Russia, reports LETA. He said that he realizes that Russia's operations in Ukraine have upset many people in Latvia, who are concerned about state security.

The ambassador explained why Latvia can rest easy: “It would never permit turning guns against its own people, as in Georgia, and there will never be armed rebellion in Latvia by the radical-right, as can now be seen in Ukraine.”

Veshnyakov here reverted to the old and tired claim of anyone not agreeing with the ‘Russian way of thinking’ is immediately branded a ‘fascist.’ This despite Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government’s own activities, such as intolerance and repression of dissenting opinion in the public sphere, which show Russia itself follows fascist doctrine.

The Russian ambassador also declared that Russia is not planning any economic sanctions against Latvia. He warned at the same time that sanctions are a sword with two sides that usually harm small countries, i.e. Latvia could suffer losses as a result of U.S.-EU sanctions.

He rejected the idea that Russia could raise the price for natural gas, as it has recently done with Ukraine.

Ambassador Veshnyakov echoed President Putin in saying that there are no Russian military forces in Ukraine. When shown a video indicating otherwise, Veshnyakov declared that "this video is part of the information propaganda war, which leads one to doubt its authenticity."