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Latvian Foreign Minister Ready to Visit Moscow Before January 19

© Sputnik / Alexei FilippovLatvian Foreign Minister Edgar Rinkevics
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgar Rinkevics - Sputnik International
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The Latvian Foreign Ministry underscores the importance for the bilateral talks to occur before the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting on EU-Russia relations on January 19. Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics is going to discuss the Ukrainian crisis with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

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MOSCOW, January 1 (Sputnik) — Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics will visit Kiev in early January and is ready to visit Moscow before January 19 – the date of the next meeting of the European Union's Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, the spokesperson for the Latvian Foreign Ministry told RIA Novosti Thursday.

"We confirm that the planning [of a visit to Moscow] is underway. According to the information we have received from the Russian embassy, the ministerial meeting has been planned. But it will be the Russian side that will set the date," Karlis Eihenbaums said, adding that the Latvian Foreign minister will also visit Kiev on January 9-10.

Eihenbaums said the current situation in Ukraine will be the central theme at the Moscow meeting. "We would like to hear from the Ukrainian partners and the Russian side their vision on [the ways] to recover from the crisis," the spokesperson added.

According to Eihenbaums, it is crucially important for the bilateral meeting to take place before January 19, as on this date the EU Foreign Affairs Council will meet in Brussels to discuss the European Union's relations with Russia.

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On Wednesday Russia's ambassador to Latvia Alexander Veshnyakov said that the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will hold a meeting with his Latvian counterpart early in January in Moscow. According to Veshnyakov, the meeting will be devoted mainly to Latvia's presidency in the European Union. Latvia took over the presidency from Italy on January 1, 2015.

Relations between Russia and the EU deteriorated amid Ukrainian crisis, as European leaders kept on blaming Moscow for its alleged meddling in Ukrainian internal conflict. However, late in December Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Russia-EU relations will remain Moscow's foreign policy priority despite the current tensions. EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Western countries wish to end the "logic of confrontation" in their relations with Russia.

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