MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th April, 2022) Russia considers the decision of Slovenia to reduce the number of diplomatic staff in the Russian embassy in Ljubljana as an unfriendly act and reserves the right to reciprocate, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
"We regard these steps as extremely irresponsible and unfriendly... Clearly, these steps are designed to systematically destroy Russian-Slovenian relations, which turn 30 this year," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Russia may introduce reciprocal measures against Slovenian diplomats in the light of this decision.
"We reserve the right to take political and diplomatic measures in response, such as limiting the total number of staff of the Embassy of Slovenia in Moscow, including local staff, among them citizens of Russia and third countries. Such precedents are known to exist," the statement said.
On Tuesday, the Slovenian Foreign Ministry informed Russian Ambassador Timur Eyvazov about its decision to reduce the number of the Russian embassy employees. Slovenia will expel 35 Russian diplomats, AFP reported, citing sources close to the country's foreign ministry.
Since the start of the military operation in Ukraine, Russia has faced an unprecedented expulsion of Russian diplomats from Western countries. According to Sputnik estimates, the number of expelled diplomats has reached 300 in just over a month, and this figure will grow as some countries have not yet announced the number of expelled Russian diplomats.
The Russian Foreign Ministry maintains that these actions are unlawful and that the country reserves the right to retaliate, some foreign diplomats have already left Russia. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called this wave of expulsions "orchestrated by the United States" and suggested that "some of them feel uncomfortable participating in the show."
