All news

Russian ambassador must leave Estonia when Estonian ambassador leaves Russia

Estonian Ambassador to Russian Margus Laidre was summoned to the Russian foreign ministry, which expressed a strong protest over the actions of the Estonian authorities and obliged him to leave Moscow by February 7, 2023

VILNIUS, January 23. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to Tallinn Vladimir Lipayev must leave the country concurrently with the departure of Estonian Ambassador Margus Laidre from Moscow, the Estonian foreign ministry said on Monday.

"Estonia takes note of today’s decision by Russia to reduce diplomatic presence to the level of charge d’affaires. We stand by the principle of parity in relations with Russia, which means that the Russian Amb. will leave at the same time as the Estonian Amb. to Russia," the ministry wrote on its Twitter account.

The Russian foreign ministry said earlier that it lowers the level of diplomatic relations with Estonia to the level of charge d’affaires in response to Estonia’s radical reduction of the staff of the Russian embassy in Tallinn. Estonian Ambassador to Russian Margus Laidre was summoned to the Russian foreign ministry, which expressed a strong protest over the actions of the Estonian authorities and obliged him to leave Moscow by February 7, 2023.