Biden arrives in Latvia to reassure Baltic allies

Riga, Aug 23 (IANS) US Vice President Joe Biden reached here on Tuesday to meet the Presidents of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and reassure the Baltic allies of US support.

"We are allies," were the first words Biden uttered upon his arrival in the Latvian capital city, Xinhua news agency cited Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics as saying on Twitter.

Biden also did not hesitated to reaffirm the US's unwavering support for Latvia, the foreign minister said, adding that this made for a "great start of the day".

The Vice President is scheduled to meet Latvia's Raimonds Vejonis, Lithuania's Dalia Grybauskaite and Estonia's Toomas Hendrik Ilves.

He is also expected to hold bilateral talks with Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis.