The expulsion of Russian diplomats: why European unity crumbled. "Cold" or third world? What does the Kyrgyz Republic think about the expulsion of Russian diplomats

Austria decided not to follow the example of Great Britain and other countries and not to expel Russian diplomats, because, firstly, it considers it necessary to continue dialogue with the Russian Federation, and secondly, it is waiting for the opinion of experts in the case of the poisoning in Salisbury of ex-GRU Colonel Sergei Skripal and his daughter, in which Moscow was accused. This was announced on Tuesday, March 27, by Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl on the radio station Ö1.

"As Chancellor [Sebastian] Kurz and I stated yesterday, it is in hard times dialogue must be maintained. As for the expulsion of diplomats, each state decides independently at the bilateral level. Here different countries The EU has reacted in different ways. We decided not to take this step," Kneissl said (quoted by RIA Novosti).

As the minister stressed, it is necessary to wait for the clarification of the situation. Vienna is waiting for the opinion of experts on the chemical attack in Salisbury, she explained. The UK and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have not yet presented clear evidence of Russia's involvement in the case of the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, so Austria is on this moment adheres to the refusal to expel Russian diplomats, Kneissl said.

"Everything flows, everything changes. Experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have been working in London for almost eight days. An investigation is underway, and 100 percent evidence has not yet been presented that Russia is involved in this case," Kneissl said, answering a question. whether Austria is ready to remain the only country that does not expel Russian diplomats.

According to the Foreign Minister, Austria "adheres to the facts and believes that in difficult times it is necessary to maintain a conversation and perform the function of establishing a dialogue," TASS reports. "Speak in subjunctive I wouldn't want to," Kneissl reacted to the question of whether Austria could change its mind.

On Monday, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said Vienna would not expel Russian diplomats over the Skripal case because Austria wants to maintain channels of dialogue with Russia. He recalled that Austria is a neutral country.

"We support a clear declaration European Council and the decision to recall the EU ambassador from Russia. But as a neutral country, we will not expel any of the diplomats. Moreover, we want there to be a bridge between East and West and that the channels for communication with Russia remain open," Kurz wrote in his Twitter.

The head of the Austrian government said last Friday that Austria does not intend to expel Russian diplomats. He also stressed that the decision was made in connection with the desire to maintain channels for dialogue with Moscow. The statement was made by the politician following the summit in Brussels, at which the leaders of the states and governments of the European Union decided to recall the EU Ambassador to Russia Markus Ederer from Moscow for consultations, and some of them announced their intention to recall their diplomats from Russia or expel Russian diplomatic workers.

New Zealand ready to show solidarity, but can't find a single Russian spy

Against the background of the mass expulsion of Russian diplomats, New Zealand, ready to support Britain and other countries, faced unexpected problems. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Foreign Secretary Winston Peters said authorities would expel Russian spies if they found them, reports The Guardian.

"While other countries announced the expulsion of undeclared Russian intelligence agents, officials notified that there were no individuals in New Zealand who would meet these parameters. If there were, we would have already taken action," the head of government said.

According to Jacinda Ardern quoted by InoPressa, New Zealand will explore what further action it can take to support the international community in the wake of the Salisbury chemical attack.

In turn, the head of the country's Foreign Ministry said that, as part of the constant support of the United Kingdom, along with the international community, the authorities will keep the issue of possible further actions under review and will continue to closely contact their actions with international partners.

In the meantime, the Foreign Ministry called Russian ambassador in Wellington to "reiterate our serious concerns about the likely Russian origin of the nerve agent used in Salisbury and conveyed the same message to Moscow," Peters said.

On the eve of 16 EU countries, as well as the United States, Canada, Norway and Ukraine announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats in connection with the incident in Salisbury. In particular, the US authorities announced that they were expelling 48 Russian diplomats and 12 employees of the Russian mission to the UN, as well as closing the Russian Consulate General in Seattle. On Tuesday, Australia announced the expulsion of two Russian diplomats.

The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 gives the host state - at any time and without justification - the right to declare someone from the diplomatic staff persona non grata.

The sending State must recall such person or terminate his functions with the mission, otherwise the receiving State may refuse to recognize this person diplomat. Diplomatic employees are protected from criminal, as well as civil and administrative liability (except for cases specifically provided for in the Convention) by diplomatic immunity. Although they are bound by the laws of the host country, committing offenses does not warrant their arrest. The status of persona non grata, which automatically leads to expulsion from the country, is the only mechanism to protect the host state from foreign diplomats. The expulsion of diplomats is a last resort and is usually associated with espionage ("activities incompatible with the status of a diplomat"). Expulsion of diplomats.

On March 14, 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May (more than a third of the employees of the Russian Embassy in the country) and the suspension of bilateral contacts with the Russian Federation, as well as the withdrawal of the invitation to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to visit London. According to her, Britain gives 23 diplomats a week to pack. Such a move is associated with the poisoning in Britain of ex-GRU officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter, a policeman was also injured. May said that Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a military-grade Novichok nerve agent developed in Russia. At the same time, the British Prime Minister directly accused Russia of involvement in the assassination attempt on Skripal. In Moscow, these accusations.

On May 29, 2017, it became known that five Russian diplomats were in Moldova. Prime Minister of Moldova Pavel Filip that this was done on the basis of information received from the security services.

On April 8, 2014, the Canadian media reported that the authorities of this country ordered the Russian diplomat in Ottawa to leave Canada within two weeks. Canadian Foreign Office. The Russian diplomat received an order to leave Canada against the backdrop of deteriorating relations between Ottawa and Moscow due to events in Ukraine.

In early December 2013, US authorities accused a number of Russian diplomats and their relatives of health insurance fraud. According to US law enforcement agencies, a number of Russian diplomats and their relatives underestimated their income to receive Medicaid assistance, while buying luxury goods. In total, the names of 49 people appeared in the case - Russian diplomats and their spouses, who allegedly illegally received. By the end of 2013, all Russian diplomats accused of health insurance fraud in the United States returned to their homeland.

The Russian Foreign Ministry for resolving issues not related to bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington.

On February 1, 2011, the Irish authorities were an employee of the Russian Embassy in Dublin. According to media reports, citing a statement from the Irish Foreign Ministry, the country's law enforcement agencies have established that Russian agents forged and used fake passports that contained the data of Irish citizens. In this regard, the Irish Foreign Ministry decided to expel the Russian diplomat from the country.

At the end of November 2010, Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez Garcia-Herrera demanded the director of the national intelligence center, Felix Sanz Roldan, to expel two Russian diplomats from the country in response to the expulsion of two diplomats from the Spanish embassy in Moscow.

In mid-December 2010, Russia and Great Britain: one employee of the embassies in Moscow and London each left their diplomatic missions. The UK asked to recall one of the employees of the Russian Embassy in London on December 10. Russia in response to this on December 16 asked to withdraw an employee of the British Embassy in Moscow. London rejected any grounds for such action, but granted the request.

In August 2010, the first secretary of the Russian Embassy in Bucharest, Anatoly Akopov, as a symmetrical response to the actions of the Russian side in relation to the Romanian diplomat Gabriel Grecu, who was detained in Moscow while trying to obtain secret military information from a Russian citizen.

On August 17, 2009, the Czech media cited diplomatic sources that the Czech Republic was expelling two Russian diplomats. One of them is the deputy military attache at the Russian Embassy in the Czech Republic, the second Russian diplomat was offered by the Czech authorities not to return from vacation. According to media reports, the Czech special services had information that both diplomats worked "for the Russian secret services."

At the end of July 2009, two Russian diplomats, adviser to the Russian embassy Vladimir Lysenko and Consul General in Odessa Alexander Grachev, declared that the Russians were allegedly engaged in "non-diplomatic activities."

At the end of April 2009, NATO at the headquarters of the alliance in Brussels, two employees of the Russian Permanent Mission to NATO - Senior Advisor Viktor Kochukov and Attache of the Permanent Mission to NATO Vasily Chizhov, after which the Belgian Foreign Ministry decided to expel the Russians.

In the spring of 2008, the Finnish authorities expelled an employee of the Russian embassy. According to the press service of the Finnish Foreign Ministry, the exiled Russian diplomat was involved in a bribery case.

On January 21, 2008, the second secretary of the Russian Embassy in Latvia, Vice-Consul Alexander Rogozhin, was expelled from the country on charges of espionage. The Russian Foreign Ministry called Latvia's decision an unfriendly step and stated that it reserves the right to take retaliatory measures.

On November 7, 2007, the Georgian Foreign Ministry sent a note to the Russian Embassy, ​​in which three employees of the Russian diplomatic mission were declared persona non grata. Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ivan Volynkin, Advisor Petr Solomatin and Third Secretary Alexander Kurenkov were declared undesirable for Georgia. The diplomats were expelled on the basis of the materials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, made during covert surveillance and wiretapping of telephone conversations with representatives of the Georgian opposition. The Georgian leadership considered that some opposition leaders coordinated their actions with representatives of the Russian embassy to overthrow the government by force.

In July 2007, four Russian diplomats were expelled from the UK in response to Russia's refusal to extradite businessman Andrei Lugovoy, accused by the British of being involved in the murder of ex-Russian FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti

This week, 29 countries, most of which are members of the European Union, decided to expel Russian diplomats. Several states also recalled their ambassadors from Russia. The editors of Sputnik found out from experts whether such actions are justified, whether this is a resumption of the Cold War, and whether this confrontation threatens countries with problems Central Asia, including Kyrgyzstan.

The reason for the recall of diplomats, or Six pictures with accusations

According to London, former Russian intelligence officer Viktor Skripal, who worked for British intelligence, and his daughter Yulia on March 4 in the British city of Salisbury, they were poisoned. London claims that Moscow was involved in the assassination attempt. Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats, froze contacts with Russia for high level and called on other countries to take action against Moscow. About 30 states followed the example of Great Britain and decided to expel several diplomats. As they say, they made such a decision on the basis of a six-page report distributed by London.

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, noted that decisions were made on the responsibility of the state in the chemical attack based on six pictures.

The task is to overthrow Putin or are we returning to the 19th century?

Geopolitics expert Mars Sariev believes that the expulsion of diplomats indicates a boycott of Russia by the Western world. There is pressure for Russian President Vladimir Putin to step down from his post, that is, the task of the West is to remove the current government.

Political scientist, regional security expert Mars Sariev

"This coordinated and systematic attack was planned earlier, they simply used the situation with Skripal. If not for him, they would have found or constructed another reason. This is interference in the internal affairs of Russia, because the current government does not suit the West. Russia dared to become independent and independent from West. They want to make it a semi-colonial country," Sariev said.

Political scientist Igor Shestakov believes that the reason for such actions of European countries was the desire of European politicians for populism.

© Sputnik / Tabyldy Kadyrbekov

Kyrgyz political scientist Igor Shestakov

"This is a desire to demonstrate one's loyalty to Washington and London," Shestakov said.

Head of the public association "Diplomats of Kyrgyzstan", former ambassador in Belarus and Tajikistan, Erik Asanaliev said he was puzzled by the fact that third countries were involved in bilateral relations. He is also surprised by which countries decided to send representatives of the Russian diplomatic corps.

“For example, why did Albania join? Powers should be more restrained if they use NATO members in such situations. We are returning to the 19th century, when everything was decided by the strongest. and does not smell," the ex-ambassador said.

Have you managed to put together a united front against Russia?

The fact that not all EU members joined the action indicates the absence of a united front, Shestakov noted.

"They did not succumb to momentary political populism, they make decisions from a strategic point of view. After all, there is key cooperation in the economy and security. The attempt to create a united front did not work and will not work," he said.

Sariev noted that the members of the European Union who did not join the "action" put their own interests first, and not those of Great Britain or the United States.

“Take, for example, Germany. She expelled diplomats, but she is ambivalent about this situation, and I don’t think she supports the US and Britain 100 percent. Also, you can’t say that Russia is isolated. There is China, allies in the BRICS and the CIS. This is not a complete blockade, but isolation from the West," the expert explained.

Asanaliev said that "there is reason in the world", since not all EU countries have joined the action.

Has the Cold War resumed?

Sariev believes that the "hot phase of the third world war" has begun.

“There will be no nuclear strikes, no one will go for them. But there are local wars, there will be diplomatic and economic pressure. This is no longer a Cold War,” the geopolitics expert said.

However, two interlocutors of the agency are sure that the "cold war" has resumed.

“This is reminiscent of a round of the Cold War. Almost 30 years have passed since its end, but for the last three years the tools of this confrontation are being used again,” Shestakov noted.

Former diplomat Asanaliev, on the contrary, believes that the Cold War did not stop and we "see it highest point when the great powers do not perceive each other's positions.

What will happen next?

Political scientist Shestakov is sure that soon there will be a détente in relations.

"These are moments of political conjuncture, they arise and disappear. There are long-term projects between Russia and the European Union in the economic sphere. There are other points of intersection, for example, the security sphere. Moreover, now there is a threat of terrorism, and it is necessary to unite against it," he said. He.

Sariev noted that Western countries continue the pressure.

"The West will try to put the squeeze on. It's a very difficult situation," the expert believes.

Asanaliev believes that even 10 years ago, Western countries could harm Russia, "and now this is unlikely."

How will the confrontation between Russia and the West affect Central Asia and Kyrgyzstan?

Sariev believes that the current situation with Russia and the West will not directly affect the countries of the region, but the consequences will still be.

"It will have a bad effect on the Central Asian region, because we are economically connected with Russia. Due to sanctions, less technology will come to the Russian Federation. As a result, fewer migrants will send remittances. Now the countries of Central Asia are jointly trying to find a way out of this confrontation," Sariev said .

Meanwhile, Shestakov and Asanaliev believe that relations between the countries of Central Asia and the European Union will not change and will remain at the same level. Moreover, political scientists reminded that the EU is interested in cooperation with the region and it has a long-term strategy.

In the event of the expulsion of Russian diplomats from the EU countries, Russia will be forced to respond in a mirror manner, sources in diplomatic circles told Izvestia. The information was confirmed by the head of the international committee of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev. Some EU countries may already today announce their decision in response to the incident in British Salisbury, for which Brussels blamed Russia. Despite the absence of any evidence of Russia's involvement in the poisoning of British intelligence agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter (in a joint statement following the last EU summit, only the likelihood of this is estimated), European leaders decided to show solidarity with London. Experts interviewed by Izvestia consider the expulsion of diplomats an alarming sign, but they are confident that in the medium term the situation will return to normal.

Eleven Friends of London

From the very beginning of the conflict over the March 4 poisoning in British Salisbury of ex-GRU Colonel Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, London made every effort to ensure that this incident went beyond the scope of British-Russian relations. At the summit of EU leaders on March 22-23, Prime Minister Theresa May convinced her colleagues that Russia, which allegedly used banned chemical weapons on the territory of another country, is a threat not only to Great Britain, but to the entire civilized world. At the same time, London, which expelled 23 Russian diplomats, made no secret of the fact that the British are actively lobbying for the adoption of similar measures by their allies in the integration association.

Lobbying efforts were not in vain. On Friday, European Union Ambassador to Russia Markus Ederer was recalled to Brussels for four weeks for consultations. And even today individual EU member states may announce the expulsion of Russian diplomats.

The first country where they started talking about the possibility, following the British, to declare diplomats from the Russian Federation persona non grata, was Poland, which is not surprising given the anti-Russian attitude of its authorities. Similar sentiments are known to prevail in the Baltic countries. At the end of last week, several Estonian defense officials at once made statements in the press that all EU member states should follow the example of Britain, but in reality only Poland and the Baltic countries would be ready for such a step.

Over the weekend, the list of countries potentially ready for expulsion of Russian diplomats expanded to 11. It includes France, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Ireland.

One of the first to openly declare this was Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. He noted that Prague "probably will move in this direction", that is, it will announce the expulsion of Russian diplomats, but their number will be less than 10 (there are 48 employees in the Russian embassy in Prague), and this measure will not affect the ambassador. Of particular surprise was Ireland, whose politicians, in the wake of the Salisbury scandal, unexpectedly expressed concern about suspicious Russian interest in large technology companies based in the country and plans to expand the Russian diplomatic mission in Dublin, to which 17 diplomats from Russia are now accredited.

Chamberlain's response

Russia, which the British did not give access to the substance that allegedly poisoned Skripal and his daughter, nor consular access to the latter, and most importantly, without providing evidence of Russia's involvement in the incident, nevertheless tried to clarify its position. To this end, in the middle of last week, the Foreign Ministry held a briefing on the "Skripal case" for all interested foreign ambassadors. But, as it became clear after the meeting on Smolenskaya Square, the West did not even try to hear Moscow. Instead of the questions to the representatives of Russia that were supposed to be asked by the protocol, the diplomats of the United States, France and some other countries simply declared their solidarity with Great Britain.

In Moscow, the idea of ​​"solidarity", which implies a transition from critical statements to the expulsion of diplomats, is considered "above common sense." At least, this is how Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Ryabkov commented to journalists on the measures being prepared by a number of EU countries. And Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that London, which “is rushing around the world, demanding that partners follow their example,” is deliberately and artificially driving the Skripal investigation into a dead end.

There is no doubt that any such decision should be mirrored by the Russian side. Each of our opponents must clearly understand: he makes such decisions not only in relation to the number of Russian diplomatic personnel in the country, but in relation to the total number of his diplomatic representation, ”Konstantin Kosachev, head of the international committee of the Federation Council, told Izvestia. - This is not our choice, but we should not leave any spaces for ambiguity here.

Izvestia's sources on Smolenskaya Square also acknowledged that Moscow was this case will be forced to adhere to the mirror principle adopted in diplomacy. At the same time, one of the interlocutors noted that they did not intend to escalate the situation in Moscow, preferring to wait for official steps from the EU countries.

It will become clearer this week which countries of the European Union will really go for the expulsion of Russian diplomats. So far, only Croatia has officially announced its intention not to expel Russian diplomats on Saturday following consultations between the prime minister and the president. Moreover, the President of this country, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, recently telephone conversation with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin not only congratulated him on his re-election, but also confirmed the invitation to the Russian leader to visit Croatia, which she announced during a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Sochi on October 18, 2017.

It is extremely unlikely that the actions of the British will be supported in Greece and Hungary. Judging by reports in the European press, it was precisely because of the position of the foreign ministers of these countries that a week ago London failed to achieve an unambiguous accusation against Russia - both Budapest and Athens logically pointed out the lack of evidence of Russian involvement in the poisoning of the Skripals.

However, the lack of evidence does not prevent some countries from threatening Moscow with even more serious consequences. France and Germany were among the first countries to solidarize with the British. At the end of the pan-European summit, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Paris and Berlin are considering expanding sanctions against Russia in response to the Salisbury incident. EU President Donald Tusk added that specifics on additional restrictive measures at the EU level may appear as early as April. And Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkk Rasmussen suggested that the next EU summit in June could raise the issue of introducing new sanctions against Russia.

According to Bloomberg, US President Donald Trump is also allegedly considering the expulsion of Russian diplomats. So far, however, there is no clear decision, the agency's interlocutors say: the head of the White House wants to see how far the Europeans will go.

At the same time, anti-Russian bias is almost not hidden. As President Macron told the EU summit, the work of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (its experts are now studying samples of the substance in the British Port Down laboratory) is “useful, but will not change our view of things.” That is, in fact, he admitted that Europe does not need any irrefutable evidence that the nerve agent that Skripal's father and daughter were sent with came from Russia.

However, Philip Hanson, a British specialist on Russia from the University of Birmingham and an expert at Chatham House, is sure that the final watershed between Russia and Europe current history won't.

In a year or two, Europe's relations with Russia will return to normal. True, in the case of Britain, everything will be longer and more difficult, the expert told Izvestia.

It is noteworthy that the former British Ambassador to Russia, Tony Brenton, also spoke out against breaking off relations with Russia the other day. IN interview Independent ex-head of the British diplomatic mission, who worked in Moscow after loud scandal with the poisoning in Britain of Alexander Litvinenko (they also tried to blame Russia for his death), recalled the case of the arrest in Iran in 2007 of 15 British sailors. According to the ex-ambassador, they were released largely thanks to the mediation of Moscow, which, at the request of London, turned to Tehran. Thus, according to Tony Brenton, for pragmatic reasons, breaking high-ranking diplomatic contacts with Russia is not advisable.

“When one or two diplomats, whispering apologies in our ears, are asked to leave this or that country, we know for certain that this is the result of colossal pressure, colossal blackmail, which, unfortunately, is now Washington’s main tool in the international arena. ", - said the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The most aggressive steps came from Washington. 48 employees of our diplomatic mission and 12 more from the UN mission will be expelled from the United States, and the consulate general in Seattle will also be closed. At the same time, as for the pretext for such actions, former US Senate foreign policy analyst James Jatras is inclined to believe that America is not interested in an objective investigation of the Skripal case, because otherwise it will become clear to everyone that Russia has nothing to do with the poisoning former employee Gru and his daughters.

“I think they just used the Skripal case to say: Here, you can quarrel more with Russia. I think now all foreign policy America, and domestic too - remember, for example, the investigation into Russian interference in Trump's election - is aimed at preventing relations between Russia and the United States from getting better, ”comments Jatras.

The United States and Britain were supported by 17 of the 28 EU countries, as well as Canada and Ukraine. Iceland suspends high-level diplomatic relations with Russia. As noted above, Moscow is exploring response options. Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Konstantin Kosachev suggested that retaliatory measures would be mirrored.

Great Britain continues to pour unfounded accusations against Russia, Theresa May only talks about the “high probability” of our country’s involvement in the poisoning of Skripal. And this despite the fact that Moscow has denied these accusations more than once at the official level. No proof, just hysteria. Britain is trying to “unite” the EU countries under the banner of a “single European family”, forgetting that it recently left this family and must pay alimony for divorce. Political analyst Alexei Martynov recalled this in an interview with Channel Five:

“As you know, they have to pay a certain amount of penalties for the European Union. But today, speculating on Euro-solidarity, on the so-called Euro-Atlantic solidarity, Britain is trying to stand at the head of all European countries, being no longer a member of the European Union. An amazing paradox, ”the political scientist sums up.

According to a number of experts, all this hysteria was started not only with the aim of isolating Russia in the international arena, but also hindering its economic development. We can talk, for example, about a ban on financing Nord Stream 2. Dmitry Abzalov, president of the Center for Strategic Communications, commented on this version to Channel Five.

Video: Channel Five

Abzalov emphasized that in European countries there is no unity on the issue of the measures that are being imposed on them in connection with the Skripal case. Indeed, often these actions do not correspond to the economic interests of these countries themselves, therefore it is quite clear that there were those within the EU who did not succumb to the general hysteria, colossal blackmail and threats from Washington and did not expel our diplomats. Thus, Austria declared that it would not take unfriendly steps at the national level.

“We will not expel diplomats. The reason for this is the following: we intend to keep channels of dialogue open with Russia. Austria is a neutral country and a kind of bridge between East and West,” said government spokesman Peter Launsky-Tiffenthal.

In Portugal, they noted that they would support only those actions that would be agreed with the EU leadership. Malta, Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus will not support anti-Russian steps either. Belgium, Ireland, Slovenia, Luxembourg, and Slovakia should not join the demarche against Russia until all the specific circumstances have been studied.

“Slovakia will not succumb to the belief alone that Russia is behind the attack. Until the allegations against the Russian Federation are supported by evidence, we will not rush,” said Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrinini.

The United States failed to win Japan over to its side. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country rising sun also noted that it is necessary to at least wait for the results of the official investigation. The same position is shared by China, which calls for compliance with the norms international law and not make sweeping accusations. Approximately the same idea was expressed in Ankara.

Photo: facebook.com/ Konstantin Kosachev

What will be the response of Moscow? Experts make different predictions. According to some, these steps can be either symmetrical, "mirror", or unexpected and non-standard, such as the recent cessation of the activities of the British Council in Russia. A number of political scientists believe that the West can increase pressure on our country by limiting, for example, cultural cooperation. Be that as it may, all this will only further harm international relations.

Roman Ishmukhametov