Latvia’s Defense Ministry Sees No Heightened Military Threat From Russia

RIGA, August 28 (RIA Novosti) – Latvia does not believe the threat of a military conflict has increased, following Kiev’s claims of Russian intervention in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Region, Latvian Minister of Defense Raimonds Vejonis said Thursday.

“The level of military threat in Latvia is still low,” the minister told the press.

Earlier on Thursday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said “Russian troops have entered Ukraine.” Poroshenko also called an emergency meeting of the country’s Security Council over the “sharp aggravation of the situation in Donetsk Region”.

Russian envoy to the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Europe Andrei Kelin denied the presence of Russian troops and hardware in Ukraine, labelling the allegations “imaginary.” Russia’s Ministry of Defense and Foreign Ministry have also repeated that Moscow has not been involved in the events in southeastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian authorities, brought to power following a February coup, launched a military operation against pro-independence forces in Ukraine’s southeast in April. The UN estimates that the fighting has left over 2,000 people dead and 6,000 injured.