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Russia declares two German diplomats personae non gratae in tit-for-tat move

On December 15, the Berlin Higher Court handed a life sentence to a Russian citizen charged with the murder of Georgian national Zelimkhan Khangoshvili two and a half years ago

MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Russia has declared two diplomats working at the German embassy in Moscow personae non gratae in a tit-for-tat response to Germany’s decision to expel two Russian diplomats after a Berlin court’s ruling in the murder case of Georgian national Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

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

"On December 20, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany Geza Andreas von Geyr was summoned to the Foreign Ministry of Russia. The ambassador was told that two diplomats of the German embassy in Russia were declared personae non gratae as a symmetric response to the German government’s previously-mentioned unfriendly decision and it was emphasized that the Russian side would invariably respond in a proportionate manner to any of Berlin’s potential confrontational moves towards us in the future," the statement reads.

The German diplomat was handed "a resolute protest" over Germany’s unfriendly moves, the ministry added.

"It was pointed out that the Russian side flatly rejects unfounded accusations, which have nothing to do with reality, of Russian state structures’ complicity in this crime that were advanced as part of this verdict that has a clearly political motivation," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

On December 15, the Berlin Higher Court handed a life sentence to a Russian citizen charged with the murder of Georgian national Zelimkhan Khangoshvili two and a half years ago. The court accepted the prosecution’s argument that the murder had been allegedly ordered by Russian state agencies. The German Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of two Russian embassy employees.

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