Russia has declared five diplomats working at the Swedish Embassy in Moscow persona non grata in a tit-for-tat-move, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
The ministry summoned the ambassador of Sweden, Malena Mard and notified him that Moscow had decided to expel five Swedish diplomats.
These include three employees working at the defence attache office in the Swedish Embassy in Moscow, the ministry said.
It said the expulsion was a response to Sweden’s expulsion of five Russian diplomats earlier.
It added that this hostile move further aggravated the bilateral relationship between the two countries.
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The five diplomats must leave Russia by the same deadline Sweden sets for the departure of Russian diplomats, according to the ministry.
Russia also informed the ambassador about its decision to terminate activities of Russia’s Consulate General in Gothenburg from Sept. 1.
And also from Sept. 1, Russia withdraws its consent to the activities of the Swedish Consulate General in St. Petersburg.
Sweden expelled five employees working at the Russian Embassy in Sweden on April 25.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry said the diplomats engaged in activities that were reportedly “incompatible with their diplomatic status”. (Xinhua)
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