Russia has expelled two Swedish diplomats in response to earlier Swedish actions against Russian officials, the Swedish Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
"Sweden has previously made the decision that one Russian diplomat would not have his visa renewed and following that, we have declined Russian applications for diplomatic visas," a foreign ministry spokeswoman said.
"Russia has answered by asking two Swedish diplomats to leave Russia."
The spokeswoman declined to give further details.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. /VCG Photo
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. /VCG Photo
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing in Moscow the same day the expulsion of two Swedish diplomats was a retaliatory measure, TASS news agency reported.
In February, Sweden arrested a man on suspicion of spying and of having been recruited as an agent by a Russian intelligence officer working under diplomatic cover in Sweden.
The diplomat was still in the country in March and the Swedish Foreign Ministry called in the Russian ambassador to ask that he leave. The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman could not confirm whether the diplomat has since left.
Sweden was one of the countries which expelled a Russian diplomat following the poisoning attack in Salisbury, England in March last year, which the European Union blamed on Moscow. Russia denies the charge.
Source(s): Reuters