Kremlin Palace (L) and the Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, capital of Russia
The Russian Foreign Ministry asked a Ukrainian diplomat to leave the country after he was caught red-handed receiving classified information from a citizen of Russia.
In a statement on Saturday, the Ministry said it had summoned Ukraine’s Charge d’Affaires Vasily Pokotilo after the Federal Security Service intelligence agency briefly detained Ukrainian consul Aleksandr Sosonyuk in St. Petersburg on Friday for obtaining classified information about Russian law enforcement agencies, reports Xinhua news agency.
Ukrainian border patrol troops guard the country’s border to Hungary on Wednesday. Russia is warning countries not to supply weapons to Kiev, amid an escalation in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Photo: -/Ukrinform/dpa/IANS
The Russian side pointed out the inadmissibility of Sosonyuk’s activity, which was incompatible with the status of a consular officer and detrimental to Moscow’s security interests, the statement said.
The Ministry said that his stay on Russian territory is undesirable and that it is “recommended” that he leave the country within 72 hours starting April 19.
In the US’ policy towards Russia, there is increased pressure in all fields and tougher rhetoric is nothing new,said Lavrov…reports Asian Lite News
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow-Washington ties were at their lowest point due to increased confrontation, and he hopes that “common sense and prudence” will eventually prevail.
In the US’ policy towards Russia, there is increased pressure in all fields and tougher rhetoric is nothing new, Xinhua news agency quoted Lavrov as saying in an interview with a local TV program on Thursday.
He stressed that there is few chance for serious dialogue between Russia and the US, if Washington continues to blame Moscow for the consequences of its own reckless policy.
According to the Ministert, Western countries feel “a threat to their dominance” and are therefore inventing new rules on which they think the world order should be based, ones that contradict those outlined in the UN charter.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Lavrov’s remarks came a day after Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov told a joint meeting of the Federation Council, upper house of Parliament, that bilateral ties were in the midst of a deep crisis, which has grown partly due to the reluctance of the American President Joe Biden’s administration to solve problems with Moscow.
Antonov returned to Moscow on March 22 after he was recalled following Biden’s comments that Russia will “pay a price” for its alleged interference in the 2020 American election.
Washington is destroying the foundations of Russia-US interactions as the incumbent administration has continued to “unwind the sanctions spiral under false pretexts”, he told lawmakers.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris
The diplomat believes that Washington will not change its stance substantially and the “systemic containment” of Russia will remain a priority.
A US intelligence report released on March 21 day directly accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering a wide-ranging influence operation to interfere in the election, intending to hurt Biden’s campaign.
In the ABC News interview, Biden also agreed with the interviewer’s claim that Putin was “a killer”.
