Global NewsAngry Russia Halts NATO Mission Over Staff Expulsions

Angry Russia Halts NATO Mission Over Staff Expulsions

October 18, (THEWILL) – Russia is suspending its permanent mission to NATO in response to the alliance’s expulsion of eight Russians, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday.

Lavrov said the Kremlin’s move — which could come into effect as early as November 1 — was a result of “NATO’s actions.”

Russia is also suspending the activities of the NATO military liaison mission in Moscow, Lavrov said, with staff accreditation to be withdrawn on November 1.

The NATO information bureau in Moscow, which was established at the Belgian embassy to explain the role of NATO and NATO policies to the Russian public, will also be terminated, he said.

“NATO is not interested in any equal dialogue or in any joint work,” Lavrov said. “If so, then we do not see much need to continue to pretend that some change is possible in the foreseeable future. NATO has already in fact declared the impossibility of such changes.”

Earlier this month, NATO expelled eight members of the Russian mission to the alliance who they determined were “undeclared Russian intelligence officers,” according to a NATO official. The Kremlin’s moves on Monday come as the United States steps up its support to Russia’s neighbors, which a senior US defense official this weekend said were “on the frontlines of Russian aggression.”

At the time of the expulsion of the Russian officers, Moscow reacted by saying NATO’s actions were inconsistent with the alliance’s previous comments and undermined a chance for reconciliation.

“NATO leaders spoke about the importance of de-escalation in relations with Russia, called for resuming dialogue within the Russia-NATO Council, sending an ambassador to Brussels,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said earlier this month, according to Russian state media RIA Novosti. “If anyone believed in the sincerity of these statements, today there are none left.”

On Monday, NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said the alliance had “taken note” of Lavrov’s comments, but that NATO hadn’t received any official communication about the matter.

Previous spats between NATO countries and Russia have had wide-ranging global implications.

In 2018, in the wake of the poisoning of former Russian double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, England, NATO trimmed the Russian mission to 20 from 30 positions.

The UK attributed the attack to a unit of Russian military intelligence.

Days later, 20 nations, including the US, backed Britain by together expelling more than 100 Russian diplomats as part of a coordinated global response. Russia expelled 60 US diplomats and closed the US Consulate in St. Petersburg in retaliation.

And in 2014, NATO suspended “all practical civilian and military cooperation” with Russia after it annexed Crimea.

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