The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that it will expel two employees of the Latvian Embassy - in response to the expulsion of Russian diplomats

The Russian authorities decided to expel two employees of the Latvian Embassy in Moscow as a retaliatory measure, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.

The department summoned Latvia's charge d'affaires in Russia, Dace Rutka. Representatives of the Russian Ministry expressed a “strong protest” to her in connection with the declaration of two diplomats of the Russian Embassy in Latvia as persona non grata “without any grounds” and informed her of the expulsion of two Latvian diplomats.

“In addition, the Latvian side has been informed that if it continues hostile actions against Russian diplomats, Moscow will inevitably take other steps that are painful for Riga,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The Russian department did not specify when Latvia expelled Russian diplomats. At the end of March, the Latvian Foreign Ministry announced that it was expelling one employee of the Russian Embassy in Riga. The department explained its decision by saying that the Russian embassy “continues to engage in inappropriate public communications aimed at discrediting state institutions and authorities of Latvia and inciting hatred in Latvian society.”

• After the outbreak of a full-scale war in Ukraine, Western countries expelled hundreds of Russian diplomats. The Russian Federation responded in a mirror way. According to RBC estimates , from January 2022 to October 2023, more than 670 Russian diplomats were expelled from Western countries. Moscow expelled more than 346 people in response.