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Prague’s expulsion of Russian diplomats meant to save face in voters’ eyes — official

Earlier Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis refuted Czech media allegations against Russia's "poison plot" purportedly targeting Prague's politicians

© Sergei Savostyanov/TASS

MOSCOW, June 5. /TASS/. Prague’s decision to expel Russian diplomats is obviously meant to save its face in the eyes of voters, Mikhail Bryukhanov, a deputy chief of Russia’s Federal Agency for the Affairs of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation, told TASS on Friday.

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Prague has "released this story into the public realm without any grounds for that," he noted. "It is impossible to ignore what has been said in public. It [the expulsion of Russian diplomats] is yet another erroneous decision." "This way they are seeking to save the face in the eyes of voters. I can see no other grounds for that," he added.

Meanwhile, according to the official, the agency has no reasons to doubt the reliability of its employees who have been expelled from the Czech Republic. "They will return to Moscow. We will take a decision after considering all the facts. So far, we have no reasons not to trust our employees or to accuse them of anything. The Czech side has not provided any convincing evidence to share their position," he stressed.

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