The German Foreign Ministry expelled Russian diplomats due to the need to “reduce the presence of Russian special services” in the country. On Saturday, April 22, the TV channel reports n-tv with reference to the German Foreign Ministry.
The department clarified that negotiations with the Russian side on this issue had been going on for several weeks.
“Today’s departure of the Russian embassy staff is connected precisely with this,” the ministry added.
Earlier that day, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that Berlin had decided to massively expel Russian diplomats from the country. The ministry noted that such actions are aimed at destroying Russian-German relations, including diplomatic dimensions. In addition, Moscow condemned the actions of Germany.
In response, Russia decided to expel 34 German diplomats. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that over 20 German diplomats were being expelled from Russia as part of Russia’s response to Berlin’s decision.
On March 25, Focus reported on Germany’s plans to expel over 30 Russian diplomats over alleged recruitment for further espionage. Two days later, German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Andrea Sasse denied media claims that 30 Russian diplomats would allegedly be expelled from the country.
In 2022, the Russian Federation faced the mass expulsion of its diplomats from European countries. Thus, they are reacting to the conduct of a special operation to protect the Donbass, the beginning of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022. The decision was made against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
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