LONDON, March 29. /TASS/. Russia’s Ambassador to Dublin Yury Filatov on Tuesday was summoned to the Irish foreign ministry following Ireland’s decision to expel four Russian embassy employees, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs & Minister for Defense Simon Coveney wrote on his Twitter account.
"This afternoon, the Department of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian Ambassador to Iveagh House to advise him that four senior officials have been asked to leave the State. This is because their activities have not been in accordance with international standards of diplomatic behavior," he wrote, adding that these measures are being taken in line with Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961.
Meanwhile, the Russian embassy confirmed to TASS that it has received the Irish foreign ministry’s note on the expulsion of four diplomats. Russia’s embassy staff currently numbers eleven people, including military attache Igor Molyanov and his aide.
However, according to the Irish top diplomat, his country’s government stands for the preservation of communications channels with Russia. "The Government continues to believe that diplomatic channels between Ireland and the Russian Federation should remain open. This is in the interests of our citizens as well as to ensure that we can continue to have a diplomatic channel of communication between Ireland and the Russian Federation in the future. This channel of communication has been important in the context of conveying our strong views on the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine, which we regard as a serious breach of international law," he wrote.
On Tuesday, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic also announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in this context that Moscow will respond to the actions of each of these countries.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, but aimed to demilitarize and denazify the country.
Following this step, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and several other countries announced sanctions against Russia individuals and legal entities.