Russian soldier on trial for war crimes in Ukraine pleads guilty

Russia has declared 34 French diplomats “persona non grata” within the nation in response to a choice by France to expel 41 Russian diplomats in April, Russia’s Overseas Ministry stated Wednesday. 

French Ambassador to Moscow Pierre Levy was summoned to the Russian Overseas Ministry on Wednesday, and “sturdy protest was expressed in reference to the provocative and unjustified resolution” of French authorities to declare 41 Russian diplomats in France “persona non grata,” the ministry stated. 

“It was emphasised that this act inflicts critical harm to Russian-French relations and constructive bilateral cooperation,” the Russian Overseas Ministry stated. 

“As a response, 34 French diplomats have been declared ‘persona non grata’,” the ministry added. “They had been ordered to depart the territory of Russia inside two weeks from the date of supply of the related notice to the Ambassador.”

France issued a press release and stated it “strongly condemns” this transfer.

“The work of those diplomats and the employees of our embassy in Russia, whose braveness and nice professionalism France salutes, is totally throughout the framework of the Vienna Conference on diplomatic and consular relations. The choice of the Russian authorities has no official foundation. We are able to solely condemn it.”

In a similar way, Russia additionally expelled 27 Spanish diplomats in Russia in response to a choice by Spain to expel 27 Russian diplomats from the nation in April, Russia’s Overseas Ministry stated in a press release Wednesday.

The Russian overseas ministry has been expelling workers of many embassies in comparable retaliatory strikes. Among the most up-to-date international locations that acquired an identical response from Moscow embody Finland, Germany, Bulgaria, Poland, Denmark and Norway amongst others.