Unofficial translation
On 2 March, to discuss the situation in Ukraine and Russia's reaction to it, Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs had separate meetings with the Ambassador of the United States to Latvia Mark Pekala, the Ambassador of Russia to Latvia Alexander Veshnyakov and Charge d'affaires of the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Latvia Richard Koizumi. Under the Budapest Memorandum of 1994 on Security Assurances in connection with Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom guarantee the independence, integrity and security of Ukraine.
In the discussions with the U.S. Ambassador and Charge d'affaires of the British Embassy, the parties exchanged opinions on further measures of support towards stabilising the situation in Ukraine. To this end, both the U.S. and the U.K. have confirmed their readiness to use the mechanism of consultations provided for by the Budapest Memorandum.
At the meeting with the Ambassador of Russia, Foreign Minister Rinkēvičs strongly expressed Latvia's principled position that territorial integrity of Ukraine must be respected. Foreign Minister stressed that the decision adopted on 1 March by the Federation Council to approve the use of Russian troops in the territory of Ukraine was contrary to the provisions of international law and Russia's international commitments including the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. The Minister inicated to the necessity of the withdrawal of Russia's armed forces to their places of dislocation and ceasing provocations.
Foreign Minister Rinkēvičs called on Russia to take a constructive position on de-escalation of the situation in Ukraine and expressed hope that Russia's actions will be directed to preserving the territorial integrity of Ukraine.