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Russia warns Austria of unavoidable response measures after expulsion of diplomats — envoy

Earlier, the Foreign Ministry of Austria announced that four Russian diplomats were declared personae non gratae

MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. Russia expressed a decisive protest to the Foreign Minister of Austria and warned about inevitable reciprocal measures after the expulsion of Russian diplomats, Russian Ambassador to Austria Dmitry Lyublinsky said on Russian TV.

"Yesterday, we had to separate conversations in the Austrian Foreign Ministry; later into the day, Permanent Representative Mikhail Ulyanov and I were invited for a conversation. Interestingly, we were asked to arrive without escort. This is rare, but it does happen in diplomatic practice, when something must be discussed in private. We’ve heard nothing private. We expressed our decisive protest, debunked all groundless speculations and warned about the unavoidability of reciprocal measures," the diplomat said.

"I believe that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Austria should have no illusions that these step will inevitably follow after the yesterday’s conversation," he added.

Earlier on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry announced that four Russian diplomats, accredited in the republic, were declared personae non gratae. The Ministry claims that two diplomats allegedly "committee actions, incompatible with their diplomatic status; in addition, two diplomats from the Russian Permanent Mission to the UN "undertook actions, incompatible with the headquarters agreement." They were told to leave the country before February 8.

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