Russia said on Saturday it was expelling a number of German diplomats in a tit-for-tat move, although Germany did not immediately confirm any expulsions of its own.
Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency said, without citing a source, that Germany was expelling more than 20 Russian diplomats.
A German Foreign Ministry official said Berlin and Moscow had been in contact about their respective representations in the last few weeks, and that the arrival of a Russian government airplane in Berlin was connected to the issue.
Relations between Russia and Germany, which used to be the biggest buyer of Russian oil and gas, have fallen apart since Moscow sent its armed forces into Ukraine in February 2022 and the West responded with sanctions and with weapons for Ukraine.
“As a response to Berlin’s hostile actions, the Russian side has decided to mirror the decision and expel German diplomats from Russia, as well as to significantly limit the maximum number of employees of German diplomatic missions in our country. On April 5, 2023, the Russian Foreign Ministry officially notified German Ambassador to Russia Geza Andreas von Geyr of this decision,” the diplomats said.
“The German authorities have decided on another mass expulsion of employees of Russian diplomatic missions in Germany,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“We strongly condemn these actions by Berlin, which continues to demonstratively destroy the entire array of Russian-German relations.”
It did not disclose the number of diplomats involved, but said its own expulsions were “reciprocal,” and that it would significantly limit the maximum number of staff at German diplomatic missions.
They also pointed out that Berlin, in violation of its assurances, has put the media on notice of another mass expulsion of Russian diplomatic staff.
“It is indicative that the German side, despite its repeated assurances of unwillingness to make the story public, violated them by making representatives of the media regularly used to organize ‘controlled leaks and information’ issues aware of its plot,” the ministry said.
Situation with expulsion of Russian diplomats
On March 25, the Focus media outlet said, citing sources in the foreign ministry, that German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock planned to declare more than 30 accredited Russian diplomats personae non gratae.
According to the Focus, German security agencies claim that these diplomats use their diplomatic status to illegally obtain political, economic, military, and scientific information for subsequent use in acts of sabotage and dissemination of disinformation.
Commenting on these reports, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russia would give a tough response to such steps.