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Russia doesn’t plan to recall ambassadors from European countries — diplomat

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Ivanov also noted that the EU hasn’t decided yet to limit issuance of visas to Russians
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Ivanov Valery Sharifulin/TASS
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Ivanov
© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, February 28. /TASS/. Russia doesn’t plan to recall ambassadors from European countries, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Ivanov told reporters on Monday.

"No," he said when asked if any such plans were being discussed.

Ivanov also said the EU hasn’t decided yet to limit issuance of visas to Russians.

"It hasn’t been announced officially," he said. "We heard the statements but this should be a unified decision because countries can’t make these decisions individually."

"The decisions that are official did introduce some restrictions: For example, visas are now required for holders of diplomatic passports," he said. "Before, holders of diplomatic passports from both sides could travel visa-free."

Czech Republic’s Interior Minister Vit Rakusan on Sunday said the country will propose that EU member states stop issuing Schengen visas to Russians over the special military operation in Ukraine.

EU countries earlier agreed to introduce limits for Russian holders of diplomatic passports that haven’t been authorized for visas. They will need additional verification when entering an EU country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on February 24 that, amid a strong escalation of the situation in Donbass and in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics, he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation. He stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, but aims to demilitarize and denazify the country. The Russian Defense Ministry said that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure, therefore there are no threats to the civilian population.