Latvia announced on Monday that it had asked the Russian ambassador to leave its territory and decided to lower the level of its diplomatic relations with Moscow, hours after a similar decision by Estonia.
“The ambassador of Russia shall leave by 24 February 2023. Similarly, the ambassador of the Republic of Latvia to Russia will leave Russia by 24 February,” the Latvian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It cited the continuing conflict in Ukraine and “solidarity with Estonia and Lithuania” as reasons for its decision.
Earlier on Monday, the Russia Foreign Ministry had ordered the Estonian Ambassador to leave the country by 7 February, downgrading relations between the two countries to the chargé d’affaires level.
Following Moscow’s decision, the Estonian Foreign Ministry announced that the Russian Ambassador should also leave Tallinn by 7 February, pointing out that relations with Russia were based on the principle of parity.
