“More than 20” German diplomats were expelled from Russia, Russian diplomacy spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Zvezda television.
Questioned by the France-Presse agency, Berlin did not confirm the expulsion of Russian diplomats, only indicating that it had been “in contact” with Moscow “on personnel issues” in recent weeks.
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement announcing “retaliatory measures” following “the new mass expulsion” of Russian diplomats in Germany.
“We strongly condemn these actions by Berlin, which continue to destroy (…) the entire spectrum of Russian-German relations, including their diplomatic dimension,” criticized Russian diplomacy.
Germany’s foreign ministry told AFP it had read “the statements” made by Ms Zakharova.
“The federal government and the Russian side have been in contact over the past few weeks regarding personnel issues at their respective missions abroad,” he added, without providing further details.
In the press release, Moscow indicates that on April 5 it “officially informed” the German ambassador, Geza Andreas von Geyr, of the decision to “significantly limit the maximum number of employees of German diplomatic missions” in Russia.
Germany, a close economic partner of Russia before the military offensive in Ukraine, distanced itself from Moscow and financially and militarily supported Kiev in the conflict.
In late January, Berlin agreed to send a significant number of Leopard tanks, a turning point in Western military support.
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Source: DN
