Latvia will close its airspace to Russian airlines, the country’s Justice Minister Janis Bordans wrote on Twitter on Saturday. This reported by TASS.

"Rest assured, our airspace will be closed to Russian flights," he said.

Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks suggested on February 25 that the country’s airspace should be closed to Russian planes. The country’s Transport Minister Talis Linkaits, in turn, said that Latvia would coordinate its decisions on the possible airspace closure with other EU members.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation based on a request from the heads of the Donbass republics. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territories. Russia’s Defense Ministry reported later that the Russian Armed Forces were not delivering strikes against Ukrainian cities. The ministry emphasized that the Ukrainian military infrastructure was being destroyed by precision weapons and there was no threat to civilians.