BERLIN, December 15. /TASS/. The expulsion of Russian diplomats from Berlin is a blatantly unfriendly step and it will not be left without a proper reaction, Russian Embassy in Berlin told journalists Wednesday.
"We confirm that, on December 15, German Foreign Ministry informed Russian Ambassador that two diplomatic embassy employees were declared personae non gratae. We expressed our decisive protest and underscored that such unmotivated actions constitute a blatant unfriendly step and will not be left without proper reaction, which will follow shortly," the Embassy said.
Earlier on Wednesday, a Berlin court sentenced a Russian citizen to a lifetime in prison over the assassination of Georgian citizen Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, which happened in Berlin over two years ago. The court agreed with the prosecution that the assassination was allegedly carried out under the order of Russian authorities.
After the court ruling, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stated that Germany considers this assassination "a violation of law and sovereignty" and announced a decision to declare two Russian Embassy employees personae non gratae. She informed that Russian Ambassador Sergey Nechayev was "summoned to the Ministry for a conversation", using a rather harsh diplomatic wording: the previous German government usually avoided the word "to summon" towards Russian, US or Chinese envoys, instead opting for a softer "to invite for a conversation.".