Nobody waiting to greet Putin

Current chairman of the Saeima National Security Committee and former president, Valdis Zatlers in an interview on the April 9 morning edition of the Latvijas Neatkariga televizija (LNT) news program "900 Seconds" said that Russia's actions towards Ukraine are criminal, reports LETA.

Zatlers refrained from directly calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a ''criminal,'' though that would be the implication. Zatlers noted that he is the leader of the country which is carrying out this foreign policy.

The former president also pointed out that he already heard five years ago Putin mentioning that Ukraine is an ''artificial'' country, which does not have the right to exist.

As Zatlers pointed out, talk on a possible visit by Putin to Latvia is impossible, as no one is waiting for him here and he himself is not planning on making any visits.

He also emphasized that there should also be no talk on a sharp freeze in relations with Russia.