A "frosty "period in Russian-Latvian relations is beginning to thaw, Russia's Ambassador to Latvia said.
"We have moved from a cold spell into spring. Or, at least, a thaw," Alexander Vishnyakov said in a televised broadcast on the Latvian PRO100TV channel.
He said Russian-Latvian business ties had tightened because of the improved political climate.
"It [the business elite] understands that when there is political dialogue at the top, there is a hope for cooperation at the state level, and that this cooperation is going to be long-standing, promising and strategic," he said, adding that "interest in cooperation between Russian and Latvian businesses has increased."
Russia has long been at odds with the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia over perceived attempts to rewrite the history of World War II and diminish the Soviet role in the defeat of Nazi Germany.
While Russia maintains that the Red Army liberated the Baltic states from German invaders, many residents of the republics put the two "occupations" on a par.
RIGA, June 22 (RIA Novosti)
