The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that it had declared 40 employees of German diplomatic missions in Russia “persona non grata”, which is tantamount to expulsion status.
The Russian ministry said in a statement that it had summoned the German ambassador to Moscow and given him a letter about the decision. The ministry said it was “a symmetrical response” to the German government’s decision to expel 40 Russian diplomats from Germany on April 4, a day after images of civilians being killed on the streets of the Ukrainian city of Bucha shocked the world.
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The statements made at the time by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock were also unacceptable, according to Moscow’s letter of protest. Baerbock had mentioned “a considerable number of Russian embassy employees, undesirable people who have worked here in Germany every day against our freedom, against the cohesion of our society”.
1 of 1 Ukraine vs. Russia: Antiwar demonstrators protest in Berlin, Germany — Photo: REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
Ukraine vs Russia: Antiwar demonstrators protest in Berlin, Germany — Photo: REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
The Russian Foreign Ministry also said it has objected to “insinuations” made by Baerbock about events in Ukraine.
According to an analysis by the German news agency dpa, the number of 40 diplomats corresponded to about a third of the German diplomatic corps in Russia.
The RIA news agency reported that the Russian Foreign Ministry said hostile actions against the Russians would not go unanswered. The agency quoted the ministry as saying that Moscow could seize German assets in Russia in response.
Berlin says deportations “not justified”
Baerbock condemned Russia’s announcement that it would expel 40 German diplomats. She said the Russian officials expelled from Germany were spies, not diplomats.
“We expected today’s move, but it is by no means justified,” Baerbock said in a statement. She claimed the 40 Russian diplomats expelled from Berlin “didn’t serve a single day in diplomacy,” while those expelled from Russia “did nothing wrong.”
The Russian minister speaks of the danger of the Third World War
Also on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the conflict in Ukraine was in danger of escalating into World War III. According to him, the risk “is real, it must not be underestimated”.
Lavrov also said that Western countries’ supply of weapons to Ukraine means that NATO is “essentially engaged in a war against Russia” and that Moscow sees these weapons as legitimate targets.
“Storage facilities in western Ukraine have been attacked more than once [de forças russas]. How could it be otherwise?” he said. “NATO is essentially engaged in a war with Russia through a middleman and is arming that middleman. War means war,” he said.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in an interview published last Friday, has strongly defended his government’s policy on the Ukraine conflict, saying his priority is to prevent NATO from being drawn into the conflict, which could lead to an even largerscale war . “There can be no nuclear war,” said the German Chancellor. “I will do everything to prevent an escalation that could lead to a third world war.”