Question: The working visit to Moscow of Maris Riekstins, Latvia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, will take place tomorrow. What questions are expected to be examined during the upcoming Russian-Latvian talks?

Answer: Maris Riekstins will visit Moscow on October 23, 2008, at the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov. In the course of the talks between the heads of the foreign affairs agencies the state of, and prospects for Russian-Latvian cooperation in different fields are expected to be thoroughly discussed, along with an exchange of views on the issues of regional interaction and on topical themes of the international agenda.

Question: How do you assess the level of bilateral political dialogue at this stage?

Answer: Positive dynamics have been observed in Russian-Latvian relations over the recent period, and the political dialogue has markedly intensified. In March 2007 Russia hosted the first visit by a Latvian Prime Minister in the history of bilateral relations, and in December of the same year Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov was on a visit to Riga. Contacts between ministries/departments, between parliaments and between representatives of regional and local authorities are expanding.

Question: What can be said about Russian-Latvian cooperation in the trade and economic fields?

Answer: Cooperation in the trade and economic fields is developing at a fairly dynamic pace. In the first half of 2008 the trade turnover exceeded 4.7 billion US dollar, nearly trebling the figure for the same period of 2007.

Russian investment in the Latvian economy is rising. There are currently more than 2,000 enterprises operating in Latvia with the participation of Russian capital. Thus, for example, AMO Plant, the Russian-Latvian enterprise in Jelgava, began in 2007 the construction of an auto assembly plant for the production of light trucks. The Riga Electric Machine Building Plant repairs Moscow trams of the Tatra type, as well as supplying Moscow with urban low-floor trams.

Active are the Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) on Economic, Scientific-and-Technical, Humanitarian and Cultural Cooperation set up in 2007, and its economic, transport and humanitarian working groups. The second IGC meeting is due to be held in Moscow on November 11, 2008.

Question: How is the juridical base of Russian-Latvian relations being developed?

Answer: A significant event was the entry into force last year of the Border Treaty, along with the signing of the agreements on cooperation in the field of social welfare and on the status of burial grounds. More than ten important bilateral documents, in both the economic and humanitarian blocks, are in the stage of active elaboration; some of which may be concluded soon. Among them are the double taxation avoidance and investment protection agreement, and those on tourism cooperation, on the facilitation of the visa regime for residents of border areas and on cooperation in the field of emergency prevention and response.

Question: What are the prospects for the expansion of bilateral ties in the cultural and humanitarian sphere?

Answer: The prospects appear very favorable. Russian Cultural Days are being held this year in Latvia with great success (in 2007 Latvian Cultural Days were held in Russia). The annual Golden Mask festival of Russian theatre enjoys special popularity in Latvia.

I would like to stress that there need to be real improvements in the status of the Russian speakers living in Latvia for the creation of an atmosphere of trust and understanding between our countries. The protection of our compatriots' rights remains one of the Russian foreign policy priorities. In this regard, there can be no double standards or references to "historical circumstances." It is unacceptable for Russia that 16 percent of Latvia's permanent residents are deprived of basic civil and political rights. We await concrete actions by our Latvian partners in the spirit of the recommendations from authoritative international organizations, primarily to ease the procedure of naturalization.