At the same time, Maris Riekstins urged to be vigilant
RIGA, September 23. /TASS/. Russia's various military maneuvers currently do not pose a direct threat to Latvia, but we need to remain vigilant. This position was stated on Thursday by the Ambassador of the Baltic Republic in Moscow, Maris Riekstins.
"This does not pose a direct threat, but, of course, we must be vigilant. Every country-both Latvia and Russia-has the right to maintain a certain level of defense capability, and the exercises are designed for this, " he said on Latvian television.
According to the diplomat, the Latvian side is concerned that there was not a single observer from Western states at the recent joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises "West-2021". "Questions are raised by the fact that observers did not monitor the preparation and progress of the exercises ["West-2021"]: this year, none of the NATO countries were invited to these exercises, although such a good practice [the presence of monitoring missions] allows avoiding the appearance of nervousness on the other side," he believes.
"Secondly, every such exercise should be viewed in the context of the practical actions of a particular country in a particular region of the world. If we look at it in this context, it forces the NATO defense alliance, which we are part of, to work on defense plans to take care of security," Riekstins said.
Strategic exercises of the Armed Forces of Russia and Belarus are held every two years. The Zapad-2021 maneuvers were the final stage of joint training this year. The practical actions of the troops were carried out from September 10 to 16 at nine training grounds located on the territory of the Russian Federation, in the Baltic Sea, as well as at five training grounds in Belarus. In total, up to 200 thousand personnel were involved in the exercises, about 80 aircraft and helicopters, up to 760 units of military equipment, including 290 tanks, 240 guns, multiple rocket launchers and mortars, as well as up to 15 ships were involved in them.
