On 23 September, during the UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins met with the Foreign Minister of Canada, Lawrence Cannon.

During their meeting, the ministers discussed co-operation between Latvia and Canada at the bilateral level and within international organisations, including NATO and the UN.

The ministers focused on the possibilities to implement joint development co-operation projects in regions neighbouring the EU to the east, given the experience with a number of successful projects carried out by Latvian and Canadian institutions in Georgia and Moldova in association with the Canadian International Development Agency – CIDA, and the preparatory work for projects in Ukraine.

The Latvian and Canadian Foreign Ministers exchanged opinions regarding the NATO agenda, including the development of NATO's new strategic concept and the participation in this process of the expert, jointly nominated by the Baltic states, Aivis Ronis, former Ambassador of Latvia to the U.S. and former Permanent Representative to NATO. The parties also reviewed the situation in Afghanistan following the elections and the expected decision of the forthcoming NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting in December this year.

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