Lithuania announced Monday the removal of the Russian ambassador, following the “atrocities committed” by the Russian soldiers in Ukraine. France and Germany predict the expulsion of several dozens of Russian diplomats from their countries.
by
“This action is part of a European approach,” took care to specify the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its statement. While the massacres noted in Bantha and in the suburbs of kyiv raised a new wave of indignation at the United Nations and Europe, France and Germany announced in turn the expulsion of several dozens of Russian diplomats, while That Lithuania decreed the return of the Russian ambassador.
Germany first announced, Monday, April 4, the expulsion of “a high number” of Russian diplomats in Berlin, 40 according to information from the France-Presse agency. The German Foreign Minister Annalya Baerbock pointed out that these employees of the Russian Embassy were “a threat to those who seek protection at home”. “We will not tolerate it anymore,” she added in a short written statement.
In the afternoon, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a statement in the same direction, a source close to the Ministry providing for the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats “whose activities are contrary” to the interests of the France.
The reasons given by Lithuania to justify the removal of the Russian Ambassador are more explicit. “In response to the military aggression of Russia against the sovereign Ukraine and atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces in various Ukrainian cities occupied, including the horrible massacre of Bantha, the Lithuanian government has decided to reduce diplomatic representation , and the ambassador of the Russian Federation will have to leave Lithuania, “said Lithuanian Diplomacy, Gabrielius Landsbergis.
Vilnius also announced that it was going to close the Moscow Consulate in Klaipeda, a port city, 20% of which are Russian strain.
Russia promises “documents” on Bantcha
Russia, which denies any involvement in the massacres found in the suburbs of kyiv, has strongly replicated these sanctions. The spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, denounced an “extremely hostile” measure and accused Lithuania wanting to “destroy bilateral relations”. Moscow will announce retaliation measures “soon,” she added.
“The unfounded reduction in the Diplomatic staff of Russian missions in Germany will shrink the space to maintain the dialogue between our countries, which will lead to additional deterioration of Russian-German relations,” reacted on its side. Russian embassy in Berlin in a statement published on Telegram.
“We have expressed our categorical rejection of the unilateral charges of Berlin, who hastened to take the party of kyiv, without even waiting for an independent investigation of the events of Boutcha,” said the Russian embassy.
The Kremlin had strongly reacted Monday morning by rejecting categorically all the charges, by the voice of his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov. Russia has promised to unveil on Monday night, at a press conference at United Nations Headquarters in New York, “specific documents” to present “the true nature of events” that took place in Bantha, according to the chef of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov.