Foreign Ministry retaliates: NATO mission in Moscow will not work

Kremlin relations

At a press conference on October 18, Sergey Lavrov announced that the work of the North Atlantic Alliance in Moscow would be stopped. The decision was made after the withdrawal of the accreditation of eight Russian post-mission personnel –  reports TASS. 

Answering questions, the foreign minister said that NATO has already been notified of the measures taken. Lavrov also stressed the fact that there are no conditions for basic diplomatic relations between Russia and the alliance. 

“Almost as a result of deliberate steps by NATO, we do not have adequate conditions for elementary diplomatic activities, and in response to NATO’s actions, we suspend the work of our permanent mission to NATO, including the work of the chief military representative, probably from November 1 or maybe it will take several more days”.

Earlier, NATO Secretary Jens Stolberg decided to withdraw accreditation from eight employees of the Russian mission, as well as to reduce the total number of employees to ten people. The decision will take effect on November 1. 

BBC.com

The Russian foreign minister expressed bewilderment over the measures taken by the West. According to Lavrov, when he met with Stolberg in New York, the latter spoke about NATO’s interest in dialogue and normalization of relations between the North Atlantic Alliance and Russia. The Russian foreign minister also recalled that NATO had previously limited the size of Russia’s permanent mission. This happened in 2015 and 2018. 

“Since 2014, NATO has extremely reduced any contacts with our mission, and announced a complete cessation of practical cooperation, both in civilian areas and on the military side: “There are no contacts at all on the military side”. 

ria.ru

Sergey Lavrov concluded that “NATO is not interested in any equal dialogue or any joint work.” He also added that in such a situation, changes in relations between the alliance and Russia are impossible. In addition to posterity, the work will be suspended by the Moscow NATO Information Bureau.