Foreign Ministry summons Russian ambassador to express protest over Lavrov's anti-Semitic statements

• Published date: 03 May 2022
• Publication title: LETA

RIGA, May 3 (LETA) - Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned Russian Ambassador to Latvia Mikhail Vanin to express protest over anti-Semitic statements made by the Russian foreign minister, as Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics (New Unity) said on Twitter.

Taking into account the unacceptable anti-Semitic statements by the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian Embassy's posts on social networks, the Latvian Foreign Ministry has summoned Vanin on May 5 for clarifications and to express its protest.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also summoned the Russian ambassador to Israel for clarifications following Nazi comparisons made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, reported.

Lavrov had defended Russian President Vladimir Putin's goal of the "de-Nazification" of Ukraine and said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's Jewish ancestry did not undermine Putin's position.

Lavrov said that Zelensky may indeed be a Jew, but "Adolf Hitler also had Jewish blood."

"That does not mean anything at all. The wise...