On Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia summoned Volodymyr Lypaev, Ambassador of the russian federation to Estonia, to present him a note of the closure of the Consulate General of the rf in Narva and the Consular office of the Embassy of the rf in Tartu. The government also plans to announce as persona non-grata and expel 14 consular staff. It is informed by the Interfax-Ukraine with reference made to the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia.
Vice-Chancellor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Mart Volmer announced while presenting the note that the persons indicated have to leave Estonia by April 30.
Volmer said that in the current situation it is impossible to speak about the normal restoration of the relations, “especially when russia grossly violates international law, especially its international obligations”.
Volmer also said that russia’s actions in Ukraine are not acceptable, “russia has to withdraw its troops from Ukraine and be brought to responsibility for the damages caused by warfare”.
We remind that the expulsion of russian diplomats has become a Europe-wide process due to condemnation of the atrocities committed by russian soldiers in the Kyiv region. Today, Spain, Italy, Denmark, and earlier - France and Germany announced the expulsion of russian diplomats from their countries.