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Berlin’s expulsion of Russian diplomats is "unpleasant episode" in relations — Kremlin

However, Dmitry Peskov stressed that this episode should not affect the prospects for establishing a dialogue between the Russian president and Germany’s new chancellor

Russian Embassy in Germany EPA-EFE/FELIPE TRUEBA

Russian Embassy in Germany

© EPA-EFE/FELIPE TRUEBA

MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/. Germany’s expulsion of Russian diplomats after a court in Berlin pronounced a verdict in the Zelimkhan Khangoshvili murder case (the ethnic Chechen of Georgian nationality was killed in Berlin in 2019 — TASS) is an unpleasant episode in Russian-German relations, but it should by no means affect the prospects for establishing a dialogue between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Thursday.

Read also

Chancellor Scholz backs decision to expel Russian diplomats from Germany

"The episode that you have mentioned is an unpleasant one in bilateral relations, but we believe that it should by no means affect the prospects for establishing a dialogue between President Putin and Germany’s new chancellor," the Kremlin official said.

Asked if there were any plans for such a dialogue, Peskov said: "Certainly. We hope that with time they will start establishing such a contact."

A court in Berlin on Wednesday sentenced a Russian citizen to a life term in the Khangoshvili murder case. The court agreed with the prosecutor’s arguments that the killing had been committed allegedly on orders from Russian state structures. The German Foreign Ministry declared two Russian embassy staffers as personae non gratae.

The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed deep disappointment with this decision and said that Russia’s proportionate retaliation would follow.

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Germany Dmitry Peskov

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