Stop the bloodshed, says Berzins

Enough blood has been shed in Ukraine; it is time to stop, Latvian President Andris Berzins announced, reports LETA.

The president is currently on vacation abroad. He believes that involving troops in the Ukrainian-Russian conflict is unacceptable.

"This is not the way we resolve conflicts in the civilized world of the 21st century. Enough blood has been shed in Ukraine. It is time to stop and solve these issues through talks and diplomacy, not military means," emphasized Berzins.

Russia's upper house of parliament on March 1 approved Russian President Vladimir Putin's request for Russian forces to be used in Ukraine.

Latvia strongly stands for the territorial integrity of Ukraine and is of the opinion that any measures aimed at splitting Ukrainian society and questioning the territorial integrity of the country must be condemned in the strongest terms possible, according to a joint statement issued by President Berzins, Saeima Speaker Solvita Aboltina (Unity), Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma (Unity) and Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics (Reform Party).