The ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Latvia is the official representative of the president and the government of the Russian Federation to the president and the government of Latvia.

Before the downgrade of diplomatic relations between Russia and Latvia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ambassador and his staff used to work at large in the Embassy of Russia in Riga. There were consulates general in Daugavpils and Liepāja.

In 2022, the Latvian government closed the two Russian consulates and in 2023 the Russian ambassador to Latvia was expelled.

History of diplomatic relations

The territory occupied by Latvia had been part of the Russian Empire since the eighteenth century. In the aftermath of the First World War and the collapse of the empire following the Russian Revolution in 1917, Latvia declared independence on 18 November 1918. Diplomatic relations were established between Latvia and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic to Latvia on 11 August 1920, and Yakov Ganetsky was appointed the first Plenipotentiary representative on 31 August that year. Representation continued until the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940, after which Latvia was de facto part of the USSR for the remainder of the existence of the Soviet Union, with the exception of a period of occupation by Nazi Germany between 1941 and 1944 during the Second World War. Soviet forces re-occupied Latvia in 1944, after which Latvia became a constituent part of the Soviet Union as the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic.

As part of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Latvia's secession was recognized by the State Council of the Soviet Union on 6 September 1991. Diplomatic relations with Russia were established on 4 October 1991.

Following growing diplomatic tensions in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Latvian government expelled the Russian ambassador to Latvia and downgraded diplomatic relations between the countries.

List of representatives (1920–present) Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic to Latvia (1920–1923) NameTitleAppointmentTerminationNotesYakov GanetskyPlenipotentiary representative31 August 19207 December 1921Konstantin YurenevPlenipotentiary representative1 February 192214 February 1923Chargé d'affaires19231923Semyon AralovPlenipotentiary representative28 May 192323 July 1923

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to Latvia (1923–1940) NameTitleAppointmentTerminationNotesSemyon AralovPlenipotentiary representative23 July 192321 March 1925Kazimir KrzheminskyChargé d'affaires19241924Chargé d'affaires19251925Plenipotentiary representative9 July 192524 February 1927Sigizmund BorkusevichChargé d'affaires19261926Ivan LorentsPlenipotentiary representative24 February 192714 September 1929Plenipotentiary representative14 September 192910 May 1933Plenipotentiary representative10 October 193325 October 1937Plenipotentiary representative1 November 19376 April 1940Plenipotentiary representative7 April 194010 October 1940

Russian Federation to Latvia (1992–present) NameTitleAppointmentTerminationNotesAmbassador2 March 199225 November 1996Ambassador25 November 199613 February 2001Ambassador13 February 20011 September 2004Ambassador13 February 200111 January 2008Alexander VeshnyakovУказ Президента Российской Федерации от 15.12.2016 № 673 "О Вешнякове А.А."Ambassador11 January 200815 December 2016Yevgeny LukyanovУказ Президента Российской Федерации от 15.12.2016 № 674 "О Чрезвычайном и Полномочном После Российской Федерации в Латвийской Республике"Ambassador15 December 201625 March 2021Vadim VasileyevCharge d'affaires25 March 202128 September 2021Mikhail VaninAmbassador28 September 202131 March 2023declared persona non grata

References