ROME
\nItaly, Spain and Slovenia expelled a raft of Russian diplomats on Tuesday amid increasing outrage over the Ukraine conflict, bringing to almost 200 the number ordered home by EU allies in 48 hours.
\nAfter expulsions on Monday by Germany and France, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia also followed suit Tuesday — while the European Union itself declared \u201cpersona non grata\u201d a group of Russian officials working with EU institutions.
\nThe expulsions were for alleged spying or \u201cnational security reasons\u201d, but follow international condemnation of killings in the town of Bucha, near Kyiv, where dozens of bodies were discovered after Russian troops withdrew. Moscow has rejected Western accusations that its forces were responsible, suggesting the images are fake or the deaths occurred after they pulled out.
\nKremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that the mass expulsions of its diplomats was \u201ca short-sighted move\u201d. \u201cNarrowing down opportunities for diplomatic communication in such an unprecedentedly difficult crisis environment is a short-sighted move that will further complicate our communication, which is necessary to find a solution,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cAnd this will inevitably lead to retaliatory steps,\u201d he added. The expulsions come as the EU discusses a fifth round of sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, with member states expected to sign off on it this week or next.
\nItaly announced it was sending home 30 Russian diplomats for reasons of \u201cnational security\u201d, as part of coordinated action with its EU and US allies. Later, Prime Minister Mario Draghi called for independent investigations into the killing of civilians in Ukraine that \u201cdeeply shake our souls\u201d.
\n\u201cWar crimes must be punished. (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin, the authorities, the Russian army will have to answer for their actions,\u201d he said. Slovenia\u2019s government later said 33 Russian diplomats were being expelled and the ambassador summoned to express the country\u2019s \u201cshock over the killing of Ukrainian civilians\u201d.
\nEstonia, which shares a border with Russia, said it was expelling 14 Russian consular staff, including seven employees with diplomatic status. In Madrid, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares expressed his country\u2019s outrage at \u201cthe unbearable images we have seen of the massacre of civilians in the town of Bucha\u201d.
\nAnd the government said it was expelling immediately around 25 Russian diplomats and embassy staff who \u201crepresent a threat to the interest of the country\u201d. Russia\u2019s ambassador to Spain will stay however, to keep dialogue open, \u201cbecause we do not lose hope that Putin\u2019s war will end\u201d, Albares said.
\nDenmark will also keep the Russian ambassador for the same reasons — while expelling 15 \u201cintelligence officers\u201d accused of spying, the government said. It condemned what it called \u201cRussia\u2019s brutality\u201d in Bucha, saying: \u201cDeliberate attacks against civilians are a war crime.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sweden\u2019s foreign minister, Ann Linde, told reporters it was expelling three Russian diplomats who \u201cconducted illegal intelligence operations in Sweden\u201d. On Monday, France expelled 35 Russian diplomats, German officials said Berlin was sending home 40 and Lithuania expelled the Russian ambassador.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ROME Italy, Spain and Slovenia expelled a raft of Russian diplomats on Tuesday amid increasing outrage over the Ukraine conflict, bringing to almost 200 the number ordered home by EU allies in 48 hours. After expulsions on Monday by Germany and France, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia also followed suit Tuesday — while the European Union […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-253420","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n