MOSCOW, January 23. /TASS/. The decision of the Russian Foreign Ministry to lower the level of diplomatic relations with Estonia is adequate and timely, since this country has taken Russophobia to the level of state policy, Chairman of the State Duma’s international affairs committee, Leonid Slutsky, told TASS on Monday.

"Estonia, together with other Baltic states, has taken its malicious Russophobia to the level of state policy and made it almost a national idea. What did the Estonian authorities gain from this? Nothing! Only approving nods from their Western masters. The reaction of the Foreign Ministry is absolutely verified, adequate and timely. We will not put up with unjustified unfriendly steps by adjusting our reciprocal steps every time [we face such steps]," the lawmaker said.

Slutsky added that Estonia "got what it wanted."

The Russian foreign ministry said earlier on Monday that it is lowering the level of diplomatic relations with Estonia to the level of charge d’affaires in response to Estonia’s radical reduction in the amount of staff at the Russian embassy in Tallinn. Estonian Ambassador to Russia 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.