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Swiss paper’s anti-Russian allegations are politically motivated, says Russian diplomat

Earlier SonntagsZeitung said in its Sunday’s issue that each fourth of the Russians accredited in Switzerland is a spy

Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Geneva office and other Geneva-based international organizations Gennady Gatilov Mikhail Metzel/TASS

Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Geneva office and other Geneva-based international organizations Gennady Gatilov

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

GENEVA, September 16. /TASS/. Publication in Switzerland’s SonntagsZeitung with anti-Russian allegations are absurd and can be considered as a political put-up job, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Geneva office and other Geneva-based international organizations Gennady Gatilov said on Sunday.

SonntagsZeitung said in its Sunday’s issue that each fourth of the Russians accredited in Switzerland is a spy. The allegation is based on the fact that Russia’s mission in Geneva has "more than 200 employees" and the mission is geographically located next to the UN Geneva office and the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The Russian diplomat admitted that the Russian mission really has many employees, which only reflects the fact that "Russia pays priority attention to cooperation with the UN and its specialized institutions."

"The fact that the Russian mission is located in front of the UN and ICRC offices in no way can be seen as a proof" that the mission’s employees "engage in activities not linked with the UN work," he said. "We consider such allegations as absurd and politically motivated," he stressed.

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