Russia expelled two American diplomats, accused of transmitting information about the war in Ukraine. The United States considers the expulsion to be unfounded and has promised a response.
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Russia announced last Thursday the expulsion of two North American diplomats, accused of involvement in espionage, and the United States has already condemned Moscow’s “unjustified” decision, promising to “respond” at the time.
The two American diplomats were accused of serving as “liaison” agents for a former Russian official detained earlier this year and suspected of passing information about the war in Ukraine to the United States. According to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE), the two diplomats declared “unwelcome people They are the first and second secretaries of the American embassy in Moscow, Jeffrey Sillin and David Bernstein. They “must leave Russian territory within seven days“said the Russian ministry in a statement.
American diplomats “carried out illegal activities when establishing a connection with a Russian citizen, Robert Chonovaccused of confidential cooperation with a foreign State” and who “were entrusted with missions in exchange for financial remuneration with the aim of attacking the national security of Russia,” the Russian multinational accused.
The United States ambassador in Moscow, Lynne Tracy, was summoned last Thursday before the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inform it of the decision, according to the same source. “The illegal activities of the US diplomatic mission, including Interference in the internal affairs of the host country.”They are inadmissible,” declared Russian diplomacy.
These expulsions occur at a time when bilateral relations between Russia and the United States are at one of their lowest points, since Washington is one of the main financial and military supporters of Ukraine, a country where Moscow has been carrying out an war of aggression. 2022. .
Robert Chonov, a former employee of the US Consulate General in Vladivostok in the Far East, was charged in late August by Russian security services. Accused of having collected information on the offensive in Ukraine and military mobilization on behalf of North American diplomacy since September 2022, Chonov faces a sentence of eight years in prison.
In statements to the press, the spokesman for the United States Department of State, Matthew Miller, stated: “This unjustified expulsion of our diplomatic personnel has no basis“. He thus repeated what the US embassy in Moscow had done shortly before: he condemned in a statement what he described as an unfounded decision by the Russian authorities and promised a response. “We reiterate our vehement protest against the constant attempts of the Russian government to intimidate and chase “The employees of the US embassy,” the ambassador declared, criticizing Moscow for “choosing confrontation and escalation.”
In recent years there have been many mutual expulsions of diplomats between Russia and Western countries, even before the war in Ukraine.
Source: Observadora
