Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said today, Sunday, that his country will respond strongly to the Czech expulsion of 18 Russian diplomats from its territory, after accusing Russian intelligence of involvement in the bombing of a Czech army warehouse in 2014. The past days witnessed an exchange of expulsion of diplomats between Russia on the one hand, America and European countries. On the one hand, because of the strained relations between the two parties.
The Russian Foreign Minister added that Moscow's response would make Prague understand its responsibility towards destroying the foundations of relations between the two countries, and Minister Lavrov indicated that it is not difficult to find American influence in the Czech’s decision.
The Russian minister denounced what he called the Czech allegations and its accusation by Russian intelligence of involvement in the bombing of an ammunition store of the Czech army in 2014, and Moscow described Prague's justifications for expelling Russian diplomats as flimsy and absurd.
The Russian Foreign Ministry added, "This hostile step is part of a series of anti-Russian measures taken by the Czech Republic in recent years. We can only see an effect of the United States in it."
And the ministry continued, "In an attempt to satisfy the United States in the context of the recent US sanctions on Russia, the Czech authorities have bypassed even their masters abroad in this regard."
A source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said yesterday that the Czech Republic, by expelling Russian diplomats, wants to close its embassy in Moscow, adding that Prague is fully aware of the repercussions and how Moscow will respond to the expulsion of its diplomats.
Russian embassy building in Prague (European)
Czech novel
Yesterday, the Prague authorities expelled 18 Russian diplomats from its territory on charges of working with Russian intelligence, describing them as spies working for the Russian Intelligence Service (SVR) and the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (GRU).
And the Czech authorities made it clear yesterday that they had "irrefutable evidence" linking Russian military intelligence to an explosion in an ammunition depot in Vrbtice, east of the country, which occurred in 2014, killing two people.
Czech police said they were looking for two men with Russian passports, identical to those of the suspects, in an attempt to poison Novichok gas for former Russian agent Sergey Skripal in Britain in 2018.
Cancel a visit
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis announced the cancellation of a visit to Russia, which was scheduled for tomorrow, due to the current tension with Moscow, and added that his country had requested the extradition of those accused of the 2014 ammunition depot bombing, and that investigations showed the involvement of Russian intelligence in the bombing.
Prague is expected to talk about the Russian role in the bombing of the Czech army warehouse at a meeting tomorrow of the foreign ministers of the European Union countries.
Britain and Poland, as well as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), have expressed their support for the measures taken by the Czech Republic against Russia.
The past days witnessed an exchange of the expulsion of diplomats between America and European countries on the one hand, and with Russia on the one hand, in an expression of the tension in relations between the two sides reaching a climax since the end of the Cold War.
Last Thursday, America and Poland announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats accused of "hostile acts", and Moscow responded in kind.
Yesterday, Ukraine decided to expel a senior Russian diplomat in response to the Russian authorities' detention and expulsion of the Ukrainian consul in St. Petersburg, as Moscow accused him of seeking to obtain confidential information on a database of Russian security services.