Russian threat to Latvia over treatment of ethnic Russians

A two-day summit of Baltic states in the Latvian capital, Riga, has ended with a strong Russian warning to Latvia about the treatment of its ethnic Russian minority.

The Russian prime minister, Viktor Chernomyrdin, said that unless this was improved Moscow could impose political and economic sanctions.

Mr Chernomyrdin accused Latvia of humiliating the ethnic Russians, who make up more than thirty per cent of the population.

Mr Chernomyrdin also called for a Baltic common market in goods and services and said Russia's trade interests in the region must be taken into account in the enlargement of the European Union.

A report on Latvian Radio said the Baltic countries agreed, among other things, to help each other gain entry to the European Union and to exchange information about co-operation with Russia.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service