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Russian diplomat calls on Prague to tell world community what Vrbetice depots held

Prague claims Moscow was allegedly involved in the blasts at a munitions depots in the village of Vrtebice, back in 2014 that killed two people

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

© Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/. Prague must tell the world community what exactly was stored at the depots in the village of Vrbetice, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday.

"This is a question the world community should receive an answer to from Prague - what exactly was stored there [at Vrbetice depots]," she said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 television channel.

"According to German mass media, and, again, this is a question to Prague, the depots held landmines," she said, adding that signatory nations to the Anti-Personnel Landmines Convention cannot keep such weapons on their territories.

She stressed that the world community should clarify which norms of international law are infringed upon by such an approach to the control of the use of depots.

The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction came into force on March 1, 1999. By now, it has 164 member nations, including the Czech Republic.

On April 17, Czech officials announced a decision to expel 18 employees of the Russian Embassy in Prague, who were allegedly "officers of Russian intelligence services." In response, Moscow declared 20 employees of the Czech Embassy in Russia’s capital personae non grata. Prague condemned this reponse as ‘inadequate" and demanded that they had to be returned back by 13:00 Moscow time on Thursday.

Prague claims Moscow was allegedly involved in the blasts at a munitions depots in the village of Vrtebice, back in 2014 that killed two people. The Russian Foreign Ministry lodged a strong protest to the Czech government.

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Foreign policy Czech Republic Maria Zakharova

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