MOSCOW: Moscow on Wednesday expelled 24 Italian and 27 Spanish diplomats, according to the Russian foreign ministry, in tit-for-tat responses to the expulsion of Russian diplomats over the Ukraine conflict.
The ministry said in a statement that 27 employees of the Spanish embassy in Moscow and the Spanish Consulate General in Saint Petersburg “have been declared persona non grata,” while ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russian news agencies that 24 Italian diplomats had also been expelled.
Italy has slammed Russia’s expulsion of the diplomats as a ‘hostile act’.
France earlier “strongly condemned” the expulsion of 34 of its diplomats by Russia, a tit-for-tat move by Moscow after Paris ordered some Russian staff to leave.
Saying the step had “no legitimate basis,” the ministry said in a statement that “the work of the diplomats and staff at (France’s) embassy in Russia... takes place fully within the framework of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic and consular relations” — whereas Paris expelled the Russian staff in April on suspicion of being spies.
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Moscow expels 24 Italian, 27 Spanish diplomats
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Moscow expels 24 Italian, 27 Spanish diplomats
- Russia will also expel 24 Italian diplomats in a retaliatory move
Russia is preparing for contacts with the United States on Ukraine, the Kremlin says
MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia was preparing for contacts with the United States to get details about US talks with European powers and Ukraine on a possible peace settlement to end the Ukraine conflict.
Politico reported that US and Russian officials are expected to meet in Miami at the weekend, and that the Russian delegation would include Russian President Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
When asked about media reports about a meeting in Miami, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that contacts were planned with the United States.
“We are indeed preparing certain contacts with our American counterparts in order to receive information about the results of the work that the Americans have done with the Europeans and with Ukraine,” Peskov said.
The United States has held talks with Russia, and separately with Kyiv and European leaders, on proposals for ending the war in Ukraine but no deal has been reached.
Putin said on Wednesday that
Russia would take more land
in Ukraine by force if Kyiv and European politicians whom he cast as “young pigs” did not engage over US proposals for a peace settlement.
European leaders say they stand with Kyiv and that if Russia wins in Ukraine then Moscow will one day attack a NATO member. The Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed claims that Russia would attack a NATO member as nonsense.
Russia controls 19.2 percent of Ukraine, including the Crimea peninsula which it annexed in 2014, as well as most of the eastern Donbas region, much of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, and slivers of four other regions.
Politico reported that US and Russian officials are expected to meet in Miami at the weekend, and that the Russian delegation would include Russian President Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
When asked about media reports about a meeting in Miami, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that contacts were planned with the United States.
“We are indeed preparing certain contacts with our American counterparts in order to receive information about the results of the work that the Americans have done with the Europeans and with Ukraine,” Peskov said.
The United States has held talks with Russia, and separately with Kyiv and European leaders, on proposals for ending the war in Ukraine but no deal has been reached.
Putin said on Wednesday that
Russia would take more land
in Ukraine by force if Kyiv and European politicians whom he cast as “young pigs” did not engage over US proposals for a peace settlement.
European leaders say they stand with Kyiv and that if Russia wins in Ukraine then Moscow will one day attack a NATO member. The Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed claims that Russia would attack a NATO member as nonsense.
Russia controls 19.2 percent of Ukraine, including the Crimea peninsula which it annexed in 2014, as well as most of the eastern Donbas region, much of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, and slivers of four other regions.
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