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‘Blanket order, not related to common sense’: Diplomat slams Prague’s ‘diplomacy logic’

Moscow will clarify the possible consequences of Prague’s actions to the Czech ambassador on Thursday, Maria Zakharova said

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Russian Foreign Ministry Press Office/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

© Russian Foreign Ministry Press Office/TASS

MOSCOW, April 22. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has excoriated the "logic" of the Czech Republic’s actions towards Russia, saying it can only be explained by a "blanket order" for such behavior, and it has nothing to do with diplomacy, she told the Vesti FM radio station on Thursday.

"There is simply a blanket order for such behavior. This has nothing to do with anything related to common sense, pragmatism and diplomacy, that’s for sure. Work on the order is in progress, because it is impossible to explain the logic of such actions otherwise," she noted.

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According to Zakharova, Prague’s comments on the investigation into the explosions in the Czech Republic are "rampant anti-Russian rhetoric" and are out of sync with the principles of the law. "These are not statements regarding the investigation, this is a set of phrases that are meaningless from the viewpoint of the investigation and the law, which they immediately refute afterwards," she stressed.

The Russian Foreign Ministry will clarify the possible consequences of Prague’s actions to Czech Ambassador to Russia Vitezslav Pivonka on Thursday, Zakharova said.

"The conversation with the Czech ambassador will continue at the Foreign Ministry today. We won’t try to guess what steps they can take anymore. There will be a specific conversation about the actions that may be taken if Prague takes certain steps," she explained.

According to Zakharova, Prague won’t have a chance to accuse Moscow of ruining bilateral relations after the conversation takes place. "They need to realize what stage they have reached in terms of wrecking bilateral ties," she noted.

On April 17, the Czech authorities announced the expulsion of 18 staff members of the Russian Embassy in Prague, who, according to the Czech Republic, are officers of Russia’s intelligence services. Prague claimed that its so-called newly-discovered circumstances related to the 2014 Vrbetice explosion were the reason behind the move. The Russian Foreign Ministry lodged a strong protest with Prague over that step and declared 20 Czech Embassy employees personae non gratae.

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