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Kremlin spokesman slams expulsion of Russian diplomats as shortsighted step

Earlier, several European countries informed that they were expelling Russian diplomats amid Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov Sergei Bobylev/TASS

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov

© Sergei Bobylev/TASS

MOSCOW, April 5. /TASS/. Expulsion of Russian diplomats from other countries is a shortsighted step, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"We are negative about it, we regret it," he said, commenting on the situation around the expulsion of Russian diplomats.

"It is a shortsighted step to narrow possibilities for diplomatic communication, diplomatic work in such difficult conditions, such unprecedented difficult and crisis conditions. Such a step will complicate our communication, which is needed to try to find a way out, and will inevitable lead to response steps," he stressed.

Several European countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, and Ireland said on March 29 that they were expelling Russian diplomats amid Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. Thus, Belgium expelled 21 Russian diplomats, the Netherlands - 17 diplomats, and Ireland - four diplomats. Several more EU countries, including Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, also demanded Russian diplomats leave their countries.

On Monday, Russian ambassador to Germany was summoned to the German foreign ministry to be notified about the expulsion of 40 Russian embassy employees. The French foreign ministry said on the same day France was expelling several Russian diplomats. AFP said 35 Russian embassy employees had been declared personae non grata.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Swedish foreign ministry announced the expulsion of three Russian diplomats while Spain’s government decided to expel 25 Russian embassy employees. Russian Ambassador to Italy Sergey Razov was summoned to the Italian foreign ministry to be notified about the expulsion of 30 Russian diplomats.

Meanwhile, Russia’s foreign ministry has warned that the Russian side will respond to these actions.

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