LONDON: Russia said on Wednesday it was expelling a total of 85 embassy staff from France, Spain and Italy in response to similar moves by those countries, highlighting the damage to relations with leading European Union members since it launched its war on Ukraine.
The three countries are among European nations that have collectively thrown out more than 300 Russians since the Feb 24 invasion. In many cases, they accused Russian diplomats of spying, which Moscow has denied. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi called Wednesday's announcement by Moscow a"hostile act" and said diplomatic channels must not be interrupted.
Spain repudiated the Russian decision as not based on the principle of reciprocity, citing"duly justified security reasons" for the expulsion of the Russian embassy staff from Madrid last month,"which is not the case now", the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
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