The Russian government expelled two German diplomats. The expulsions were in response to tensions with Berlin over a German court ruling that Moscow had ordered the 2019 assassination of a former Chechen commander in a Berlin park.
“The German ambassador was informed that two diplomatic employees of the German embassy in Russia were declared ‘persona non grata’ in a balanced response,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
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It did not say when the two German diplomats would have to leave Russia. Ekonomi Rusia
The expulsion on Monday (20/12) local time was in response to Russia’s retaliation for the expulsion of its diplomats by Germany last week.
The Russian Foreign Ministry added that it had delivered a “strong protest” to the German ambassador over the expulsion of two Russian diplomats last week in Berlin.
Earlier last week, a judge in Berlin sentenced Russian citizen Vadim Krasikov, alias Vadim Sokolov, to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to shooting dead Georgian citizen Tornike Kavtarashvili, 40, in a Berlin park in 2019.
The judge said the killing was meant “in retaliation” for being an opponent of the Kremlin. Berita politik dan ekonomi Rusia
The German government expelled two Russian diplomats shortly after the killing in protest at Moscow’s lack of cooperation in the investigation into the case. The Russian government has denied any connection to the killings.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that Moscow “firmly denies the baseless and far-flung accusations” that it was involved in the killing.
Following the announcement of the expulsion of the German diplomat from Moscow, Berlin said the Russian decision “added further to tensions” between the two countries. Politik Rusia
“This move is not surprising but in the view of the German government is completely unjustified,” said a German foreign ministry spokesman. Politik Indonesia