The Government of Latvia approved the procedure for unilateral termination of the agreement on cooperation in the field of culture with Russia, signed by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Culture of Latvia. The Latvian order on cooperation between the departments of the two countries was also declared invalid.. Delphi reports..

Minister of Culture of Latvia Nauris Puntulis stressed that cultural cooperation with a country that started a bloody war, as a result of which civilian Ukrainians lose their lives and cultural values \u200b\u200band infrastructure are destroyed, is now unthinkable..

" Then, when the course of power and the development of the state in Russia changes to a modern, democratic order, cultural ties will most likely be resumed at the state level,"

He, however, clarified that the termination of the agreement does not exclude cooperation with representatives of Russian culture who condemn the regime of Vladimir Putin..

The head of the public relations department of the Ministry of Culture, Lita Kokale, explained that the termination of the document will be initiated on an emergency basis in three months.. If Russia expresses objections, then the contract is terminated unilaterally.

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The agreement will become invalid three months after Latvia receives an application to denounce the document, unless objections are received from the Russian Federation during this time.. Otherwise, the agreement will formally remain in effect until the end of this period..

Lita Kokale also noted that the internal political situation in Russia has changed significantly since the conclusion of the agreement and after the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine. She stressed that the state power there restricts freedom of speech and conscience, introduces censorship and limits the freedom of creativity, which makes the exchange of culture impossible..

Earlier, Latvia banned Belarus from transporting military cargo to third countries through its ports..

Prior to this, Latvia decided to block the Russian social networks VKontakte, Odnoklassniki and My World..