War In Ukraine: Russia Expels 34 French Diplomats – The HuffPost

Google Maps screenshotThe French Embassy in Moscow.DIPLOMACY – An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Russia announced on Wednesday May 18 to expel 34 French diplomats, in retaliation for the expulsions in April by France of 41 Russians, in the wake of the offensive in Ukraine. The French ambassador in Moscow was summoned to the Russian ministry on Wednesday of Foreign Affairs and was given a note meaning that “34 collaborators of French diplomatic establishments in Russia have been declared ‘persona non grata’”, indicated Russian diplomacy in a press release. They must leave Russia within two weeks, according to the same source. Paris reacted immediately and “strongly condemns” this decision. France announced in April the expulsion of 41 Russian diplomats who, according to it, engaged in espionage activities under cover of their embassy, ​​specifying that the sanction was part of “a European approach”. Spanish and Italian diplomats also expelledRussia “strongly protested” on Wednesday against “the provocative and unfounded decision of the French authorities” to expel Russian diplomats, said the press release from Russian diplomacy, stressing that this measure “causes serious harm Russian-French relations, as well as constructive bilateral cooperation”. Many other European countries such as Germany, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Austria, Poland, Greece or Croatia have massively expelled Russian diplomats since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine on February 24. In some cases, these expulsions have been accompanied by accusations of espionage. Moscow has promised to respond to each of these measures and dozens of Western diplomats have already been expelled from Russia. In the wake of France, Russia announced the expulsion of 27 Spanish diplomats and 24 of their Italian counterparts. The President of the Italian Council, Mario Draghi, denounced a “hostile act”. “But we must absolutely avoid breaking diplomatic relations. This must not lead to the breaking of diplomatic channels because if we achieve peace, we will achieve it through these diplomatic channels”, continued the head of the Italian government during a press conference in Rome. According to Russian media, the Swedish ambassador was also summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday. See also also on the Huffpost: War in Ukraine: what state is Chernobyl in after the withdrawal of Russia