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Estonia obliges Russia to cut number of diplomats in country by February 1 — statement

The Estonian diplomats noted that the number of employees of the Russian embassy should be reduced to eight "diplomatic positions" and 15 "posted administrative, technical and service staff members"

Estonian Foreign Ministry Valery Sharifulin/TASS

Estonian Foreign Ministry

© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

VILNIUS, January 11. /TASS/. Estonia's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that it had notified the Russian envoy of the need to reduce the number of Russian diplomats working in the country by February 1.

"Today, Estonia notified the ambassador of the Russian Federation of the decision that means Russia must reduce the number of its staff by 1 February 2023. The aim of the decision is to reach parity in embassy staff, which means that the number of positions in the Russian and Estonian representations operating in capitals will be made equal," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Estonian diplomats noted that the number of employees of the Russian embassy should be reduced to eight "diplomatic positions" and 15 "posted administrative, technical and service staff members".

According to Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu, in light of the conflict in Ukraine, the Russian embassy "is not engaged in advancing Estonian-Russian relations," so there are "no grounds" for the embassy to operate in its current composition.

"Since the start of <…> [the conflict in Ukraine], Estonia has reduced its bilateral relations with the Russian Federation to the absolute minimum. In the spring, we closed Russia’s consulates in Narva and Tartu and we have expelled three members of the Russian embassy’s diplomatic staff. <...>. Now we are setting a limit to the number of Russian diplomats working in Estonia in order to achieve parity. Today’s step is in correlation with the low point of our relations in general," the top diplomat added.

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