Iceland announced this Friday (09) the closure of its embassy in Moscow from August 1 due to the conflict situation in Ukraine, becoming the first country to make such a decision.
Iceland’s initiative to suspend activities at its embassy in Moscow is due to the deterioration of relations between the two countries over Russia’s war in Ukraine and does not constitute a “break” in diplomatic relations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Foreign Affairs. Icelandic in a statement, indicating that the embassy will reopen “as soon as circumstances allow”.
“This is not an easy decision as Iceland has maintained good relations with the Russian people since independence in 1944. But in the current situation it is simply not feasible for a small foreign service like the Icelandic to run an embassy in Russia “is in the statement.
The ministry stressed that commercial, cultural and political relations with Moscow are at a “historically low level” and so there is no reason to keep diplomatic representation open.
“I hope that circumstances will allow us to have normal and fruitful relations with Russia one day, but that will depend on the decisions of the Kremlin.”said Iceland’s foreign minister, Thórdís Gylfadottir.
The minister informed the Russian ambassador in Reykjavik of the measure and asked Moscow to reduce the activities of its delegation, in accordance with Article 11 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and to reduce the level of its representation.
The Scandinavian country of 375,000 has had an embassy in Moscow since 1944, with an interregnum between 1951 and 1953, a period when trade between the two countries was at a standstill.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far led to the flight of more than 14.7 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 8.2 million to European countries – according to the latest data from the UN, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russian security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and Russia political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented as confirmed since the start of the war, which today entered its 471st day, 8,983 civilian deaths and 15,442 wounded, underlining that these numbers are far below the real ones.
Source: DN
