The presidents of Latvia and Russia met for the first time in a hastily arranged summit on February 11, raising hopes for an improvement in what have been frosty relations between the two neighboring states.

The 90 minute meeting occurred after Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a surprise invitation just a day or two earlier to Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga to fly to see him in Austria, where he was on an official visit. The two leaders had never met before, and it was a rare encounter between top-ranking Latvian and Russian officials. During the summit in the Austrian resort town of Saint Anton, the two reportedly discussed some of the touchy bilateral issues that have strained relations ever since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. "The meeting with the Latvian president was very important," Itar-Tass quoted Putin as saying later. The Latvian president echoed that assessment, saying "this is a first step of a process that hopefully will be followed up." Upon her return from Austria, Vike-Freiberga confirmed that the two heads of state spoke about long-standing Kremlin allegations that Latvia discriminates against its large Russian-speaking population. But while Vike-Freiberga said Putin appears to understand Latvia's desire to protect its culture, she said he was misinformed about the nature of Latvian language and citizenship laws. The two also reportedly discussed Latvia's prosecution of elderly former agents of Stalinist repression, proceedings which Russia has strongly criticized. The contentious issue of the Baltic drives to join NATO did not come up, according to Vike-Freiberga. The Latvian president said she and Putin decided to broach the issue later. She hastened to add that Latvia had no intention of ever abandoning its stated goal of full alliance membership.