Russia to expel more than 20 German diplomats in retaliation to ‘mass explusions’

Moscow: The Russian foreign ministry on Saturday announced the expulsion of more than 20 German diplomats in retaliation to the “mass expulsion” of Russian embassy staff from Berlin.

“The German authorities took a decision on another mass expulsion of employees of Russian diplomatic missions in Germany. We strongly condemn these actions of Berlin, which continues to defiantly destroy the entire array of Russian-German relations,” the ministry said in a statement.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told state-run television Zvezda that Moscow had decided to expel “more than 20” diplomats after her ministry denounced “another mass expulsion of employees of Russian diplomatic missions in Germany.”

Relations between Moscow and Berlin, which used to be the biggest buyer of Russian crude oil and gas, have been strained since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the subsequent sanctions slapped against Russia by Kyiv’s Western allies.

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“As a reaction to the hostile actions of Berlin, the Russian side decided to mirror the expulsion of German diplomats from Russia, as well as to significantly limit the maximum number of employees of German diplomatic missions in our country,” the ministry said.

The German foreign ministry said it had taken note of the Russian statements.

From now on, Moscow will also limit the maximum number of employees in German diplomatic missions in the country, and said Germany’s ambassador Geza Andreas von Geyr was notified of the measures on April 5.

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