Russia expels dozens of French, Italian, Spanish diplomats from its territory

MOSCOW, May 18 (YPA) – Russia announced on Wednesday that it has decided to deport dozens of French, Italian and Spanish diplomats from its territory, in response to similar measures taken by these three European countries.

In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that it had summoned the French ambassador to Moscow, Pierre Levy, and expressed to him “its strong protest against the provocative and unjustified decision of the French authorities to declare 41 employees of Russian diplomatic missions in France persona non grata.”

The ministry stressed that this step seriously damages the constructive relations and cooperation between the two countries, stressing that Moscow, by means of a reply, declares 34 employees of the French diplomatic facilities in Russia persona non grata and demands them to leave its territory within two weeks.

In another statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that it also summoned the Spanish ambassador, Marcos Gomes Martins, and expressed to him its “strong protest” against Madrid’s decision to deport 27 employees of Russian diplomatic facilities in Spain, warning that “this unfriendly step will negatively affect the relations between the two countries.”

It continued, “By means of a reply, 27 employees of the Spanish Embassy in Moscow and its Consulate General in St. Petersburg have been declared persona non grata, and they must leave the country within seven days since the memorandum in this regard was delivered to the ambassador.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed that Moscow will deport 24 Italian diplomats as a response measure that comes in response to a similar step taken by Rome against Russian diplomats.

This comes within the framework of a series of mutual expulsions between Russia and Western countries, including hundreds of diplomats, since Moscow began its military operation in Ukraine on February 24.

YPA