Russia says it will retaliate again if Czech spy row escalates
Russia said on Thursday it would retaliate against any new steps taken by the Czech Republic against Russian diplomatic staff as a spy row between the two countries threatened to escalate into a new round of expulsions.
Russia ordered out 20 Czech diplomats on Sunday, after
Prague expelled 18 Russians the day before. On Wednesday the Czech Republic
demanded that Moscow allow the return of all 20 staff to Moscow by Thursday or
face further evictions of its diplomats from Prague.
The dispute is the sharpest between the two countries since
the end of the Communist era in 1989 and comes at a time of acute tensions in
Russia’s relations with the West.
In the past week, Moscow has also kicked out diplomats from
Bulgaria, Poland and the United States in retaliation for expulsions of its own
staff.
The Czechs say the loss of the 20 staff has effectively
paralysed the functioning of their Moscow embassy, which is much smaller than
the Russian mission in Prague.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign
ministry, accused Czech authorities of staging a “performance” and pledged
Moscow would hit back if Prague took any more actions against Russian
diplomats.
“If (we are on) the confrontational path chosen by Prague,
then there will be an appropriate response,” Zakharova told radio station
Govorit Moskva, RIA news agency reported.
Prague expelled the 18 Russians, whom it identified as
intelligence officers, after saying two Russian spies accused of a nerve agent
poisoning in Britain in 2018 were behind a fatal explosion at a Czech
ammunition depot four years earlier.
Russia has denied the accusations, which the Kremlin
described as “provocative and unfriendly.” Zakharova said Prague had not
supported its accusations of alleged Russian involvement in the blast with any
evidence.
Her comments came a day after she said the Russian foreign
ministry would again summon the Czech ambassador on Thursday.
The two suspects named by Prague, known under the aliases
Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov, are reportedly part of the elite Unit
29155 of Russia’s GRU military intelligence service.
Britain charged them in absentia with attempted murder after
the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter with the
nerve agent Novichok in the English city of Salisbury in 2018.
The Skripals survived, but a member of the public died. The
Kremlin denied involvement in the incident.
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