Russian Parliamentary Group Still Plans To Visit Germany In February - Lawmaker

Russian Parliamentary Group Still Plans to Visit Germany in February - Lawmaker

The visit of the Russian lower house's delegation to Germany is still in the pipeline for February despite the expulsion of two Russian diplomats by Berlin earlier in the day, the coordinator of the group on interaction with the German parliament, Pavel Zavalnyi, told Sputnik on Wednesday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2019) The visit of the Russian lower house's delegation to Germany is still in the pipeline for February despite the expulsion of two Russian diplomats by Berlin earlier in the day, the coordinator of the group on interaction with the German parliament, Pavel Zavalnyi, told Sputnik on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the German Foreign Ministry declared personae non grata and expelled two diplomats of the Russian embassy in Berlin, having accused Moscow of insufficient support of an investigation into a murder, despite Berlin's request. In August, a 40-year-old Georgian national was killed in one of Berlin's parks, allegedly by a Russian national instructed by the government.

"We are planning a visit in February - if it ends up taking place - in the context of Duma-Bundestag collaboration. Such episodes [when diplomats are expelled by the host state] are always resonant and, of course, impact the mutual understanding and trust between the countries," Zavalnyi said.

According to the lawmaker, this visit is being worked out and "there is a verbal agreement" between Moscow and Berlin to hold an inter-committee meeting of such format.

He added that whether or not the visit ends up taking place ultimately depends on it fitting into the budgetary limits of the Russian side.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has already confirmed to Sputnik its intent to respond to Germany's move.