Russia will close its NATO mission in Brussels on 1 November. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced this on Monday, international news agencies reported. After the closure, the alliance on “urgent matters” must contact the Russian embassy in Brussels, Lavrov said. According to the foreign minister, the withdrawal is in response to the expulsion of eight members of the mission earlier this month.
On October 6, NATO returned eight of the Russian mission’s 18 personnel to Russia. According to the alliance, they were secretly working for Russian intelligence services. In response, Lavrov also announced steps against NATO’s military mission in Moscow. The activities there will also be discontinued as of 1 November. Losing employees of the mission according to the Russian news agency TASS than their accreditation.
The Russian mission is not based at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, but at a different location in the Belgian capital. There, Russian diplomats are working on military cooperation with the transatlantic alliance. After Russia took Ukraine’s Crimea in April 2014, NATO put cooperation with Russia on the back burner. For the two-track policy of ‘deterrence and dialogue’, the alliance kept open diplomatic channels such as the missions in Moscow and Brussels. Relations between the West and Russia have deteriorated further since then.
Russia will close its NATO mission in Brussels on 1 November. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced this on Monday, international news agencies reported. After the closure, the alliance on “urgent matters” must contact the Russian embassy in Brussels, Lavrov said. According to the foreign minister, the withdrawal is in response to the expulsion of eight members of the mission earlier this month.
On October 6, NATO returned eight of the Russian mission’s 18 personnel to Russia. According to the alliance, they were secretly working for Russian intelligence services. In response, Lavrov also announced steps against NATO’s military mission in Moscow. The activities there will also be discontinued as of 1 November. Losing employees of the mission according to the Russian news agency TASS than their accreditation.
The Russian mission is not based at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, but at a different location in the Belgian capital. There, Russian diplomats are working on military cooperation with the transatlantic alliance. After Russia took Ukraine’s Crimea in April 2014, NATO put cooperation with Russia on the back burner. For the two-track policy of ‘deterrence and dialogue’, the alliance kept open diplomatic channels such as the missions in Moscow and Brussels. Relations between the West and Russia have deteriorated further since then.
Russia will close its NATO mission in Brussels on 1 November. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced this on Monday, international news agencies reported. After the closure, the alliance on “urgent matters” must contact the Russian embassy in Brussels, Lavrov said. According to the foreign minister, the withdrawal is in response to the expulsion of eight members of the mission earlier this month.
On October 6, NATO returned eight of the Russian mission’s 18 personnel to Russia. According to the alliance, they were secretly working for Russian intelligence services. In response, Lavrov also announced steps against NATO’s military mission in Moscow. The activities there will also be discontinued as of 1 November. Losing employees of the mission according to the Russian news agency TASS than their accreditation.
The Russian mission is not based at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, but at a different location in the Belgian capital. There, Russian diplomats are working on military cooperation with the transatlantic alliance. After Russia took Ukraine’s Crimea in April 2014, NATO put cooperation with Russia on the back burner. For the two-track policy of ‘deterrence and dialogue’, the alliance kept open diplomatic channels such as the missions in Moscow and Brussels. Relations between the West and Russia have deteriorated further since then.
Russia will close its NATO mission in Brussels on 1 November. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced this on Monday, international news agencies reported. After the closure, the alliance on “urgent matters” must contact the Russian embassy in Brussels, Lavrov said. According to the foreign minister, the withdrawal is in response to the expulsion of eight members of the mission earlier this month.
On October 6, NATO returned eight of the Russian mission’s 18 personnel to Russia. According to the alliance, they were secretly working for Russian intelligence services. In response, Lavrov also announced steps against NATO’s military mission in Moscow. The activities there will also be discontinued as of 1 November. Losing employees of the mission according to the Russian news agency TASS than their accreditation.
The Russian mission is not based at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, but at a different location in the Belgian capital. There, Russian diplomats are working on military cooperation with the transatlantic alliance. After Russia took Ukraine’s Crimea in April 2014, NATO put cooperation with Russia on the back burner. For the two-track policy of ‘deterrence and dialogue’, the alliance kept open diplomatic channels such as the missions in Moscow and Brussels. Relations between the West and Russia have deteriorated further since then.