The Latvian Saeima on Thursday recognized Russia as a state that supports terrorism. The Latvian parliament calls on European Union countries to stop issuing tourist and entry visas to citizens of Russia and Belarus, according to the Saeima website.

"On Thursday, August 11, the Saeima adopted a statement on Russia's targeted military attacks on Ukrainian civilians and the public space, which recognizes Russian violence against civilians as terrorism and Russia as a state that supports terrorism. In the statement, the Sejm calls on the EU countries to immediately suspend the issuance of tourist and entry visas to citizens of Russia and Belarus," reads the statement.

The Seimas statement notes that since the unprovoked Russian military attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, a number of human rights groups and international monitoring missions reported atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces against civilians in Ukraine, including torture, rape, murder and mass detention of civilians in so-called filtration camps, and mass deportations.

In the statement, the Seimas stresses that Russia uses suffering and intimidation as a tool in its attempts to demoralize the Ukrainian people and armed forces and paralyze the state's ability to act to occupy Ukraine. The Sejm recognizes Russian violence against civilians, which is carried out to achieve political goals, as terrorism and Russia as a state that supports terrorism, and calls on other like-minded countries to voice the same opinion.

We would like to point out that after the deaths of people in the penal colony in Yelenivka, Donetsk Region, where Ukrainian prisoners were held, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba once again called on his partners to recognize Russia as a terrorist state.