VILNIUS, October 25. /TASS/. Latvia "understands Russian people" and could act as a European Union negotiator in talks on a Ukrainian settlement, Latvia’s former Foreign Minister (1990-1992) Janis Jurkans said.

"We know the Russian language and we understand Russian people," he said, as cited by the NRA newspaper. Latvia, in his words, could use this advantage and act as a EU negotiator.

He said that Riga should come out with an initiative at the European Union level to "lead the dialogue." Latvia could create conditions under which the European Union would want to "turn toward Russia, rather than turn away from it and be in constant conflict," he added.

Moscow has repeatedly declared its readiness to negotiate European security framework with European leaders, taking into account the interests of both sides. Russian President Vladimir Putin told Vesti journalist Pavel Zarubin in an interview on October 22 that discussions on ensuring the future security of Ukraine and Russia would naturally have to address the European security architecture as well. Moscow will monitor the situation in the coming days, he added.