Moscow comments on Tallinn’s move to expel Russian diplomats

The Russian Foreign Ministry says Tallinn’s hostile move to expel Russian diplomats will only further complicate bilateral relations.

MOSCOW, May 26. /ТАSS/. Tallinn’s hostile move to expel Russian diplomats will only further complicate bilateral relations, which have been driven to a dead end by the Estonian authorities, the Russian foreign ministry said on Friday.

"We consider this Tallinn’s step as provocative and ungrounded," the ministry said. "Naturally, it will not stay unanswered. This openly hostile action taken by the Estonian authorities will only further complicate bilateral relations, which have already been driven to a dead end by official Tallinn."

"It looks like someone wants to further aggravate the situation at the border with Russia, to keep afloat the myth of the Russian threat in all manifestations, to justify the Russophobic policy of the Estonian authorities and the confrontational agenda of ‘containment’ of our country," the ministry said.

These developments, according to the Russian foreign ministry, are yet another manifestation of the Estonia government’s destructive policy, which runs counter to the long-term interests of relations between neighboring states. "Responsibility for the consequences rests with the Estonian authorities," the ministry stressed.

Earlier on Friday, an Estonian foreign ministry spokesperson told TASS that Estonia will expel Russian Consul General in Narva Dmitry Kazennov and Consul Andrei Surgayev. No reasons for such move were given.

Source: ITAR-TASS 27-05-2017