Latvia hands official note of protest to Russian chargé d’affaires over statements by Russian Foreign Intelligence Service
Latvia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the chargé d’affaires of the Russian Embassy on Tuesday and expressed a strong protest over a public false statement by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service.
This is stated in a notice on the website of Latvia’s Foreign Ministry, Censor.NET reports.
Russia continues to spread lies
"During the conversation, the head of the Russian embassy was told that despite repeated notifications by the Latvian side through diplomatic channels and publicly that the Republic of Latvia had not consented to the use of its territory and airspace to carry out attacks on targets in the Russian Federation, the Russian side continues to spread lies and escalate its statements," the ministry stressed.
The head of the Russian embassy was also handed an official note of protest.
Background
- Earlier, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service published a statement accusing Ukraine of intending to launch combat drones from the Baltic states. Russia also threatened NATO member states with "fair retribution" and "strikes on decision-making centers in Latvia" if this happened.
- Latvia denied Russia’s claims about "attacks from its territory".
- Ukraine, for its part, also rejected Russia’s accusations that it was allegedly preparing attacks on Russia from Latvian territory.
- At the same time, Estonian Defense Minister Pevkur said on 19 May that a drone had been shot down in the country’s airspace for the first time.
