Russia and Germany agree to exchange expulsions of diplomats

Russia is expelling 34 of the approximately 90 German diplomats stationed in Moscow in retaliation for Berlin’s hostilities, reported German newspaper Bild, citing sources.

A source close to the Russian Foreign Ministry told Vedomosti that it could be the expulsion of up to 100 embassy employees from the Russian and German sides, which would lead to the suspension of some functions of diplomatic missions.

The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharova stated in an interview with the Zvezda TV channel that more than 20 diplomats would be expelled from the German embassy in Russia. She also noted that the German Foreign Ministry itself told reporters about the planned expulsion of Russian diplomats, which appeared in the media over the past month.

“They notified us that they were deporting us and said that just don’t tell anyone. And they themselves began to leak, and they themselves began to deny publicly. They had official statements <…> that they denied that they were expelling our diplomats,” the spokeswoman said.

TV channel N-tv with reference to the German Foreign Ministry informedthat the expulsion of employees of the Russian embassy is connected with the “reduction of the presence of Russian intelligence in Germany.” The channel noted that such a response confirmed the presence of Russian diplomats on board the Il-96 aircraft, which had previously taken off from Moscow, landed in Berlin, and then returned to Vnukovo Airport.

At the same time, as Bild noted, the flight caused a “buzz” on social networks, since EU airspace has been closed to all Russian airlines since February 2022 after the start of the military operation in Ukraine. A spokesman for the German Air Force told the newspaper that the plane had “diplomatic clearance” to land in Berlin.

Relations between Russia and Germany are already unfriendly, and Berlin’s decision to expel Russian diplomats will complicate the situation even more, declared Head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky TASS.

“Germany is increasingly following in the wake of the United States and copying not the most constructive methods in bilateral dialogue. The mass expulsion of Russian diplomats by Berlin will certainly complicate bilateral relations, which are already unfriendly,” he said.

In turn, member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Dmitry Belik said RT that Berlin’s decision to expel a large number of Russian diplomats is another example of a “Russophobic policy devoid of any international norms.” According to him, the deterioration of relations with the West creates the basis for building up cooperation with friendly countries.

At the end of March, the German magazine Focus, citing sources informedthat German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock plans to expel more than 30 accredited Russian diplomats from the country. After that, a RIA Novosti source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said that “a tough response to these unhealthy steps of Berlin is already ready – she [Бербок] like it.”