Latvia drafts national ban on Russian and Belarusian grain transit

Latvia's Foreign Ministry has drafted a government regulation that would ban the transit of Russian and Belarusian grain through the country, Foreign Minister Baiba Braze said on 14 November.

Braze wrote on X that the ministry had prepared and submitted a draft cabinet regulation that would "ban the transit of Russian and Belarusian grain through Latvia". The ministry proposes imposing the ban through national sanctions.

Latvia had previously explored an EU-wide ban, but the initiative did not garner enough support among EU member states. On 9 October, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia sent a joint letter to Brussels calling for a ban on the transit of Russian grain exports through the EU.

Baltic leaders say Russia is preventing Ukrainian grain from reaching global markets while trying to profit from shipping its own grain through the bloc's infrastructure.