Russia will not put up with the actions of the Czech Republic and Bulgaria and will give an answer to unacceptable and provocative steps.
This was announced by the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov on the air of the Big Game program on Channel One.
“What the Czechs are doing now, how the Bulgarians are joining them, how the Balts and others are joining them within the framework of the so-called notorious solidarity, we will not tolerate this, and we no longer tolerate it.
And we clearly demonstrate this, ”he said.
The Kremlin spokesman noted that the actions of Prague and Sofia cause irritation, regret and misunderstanding in Moscow, as well as a desire "to see changes in this schizophrenic position."
Peskov stressed that unfounded accusations against Russia or any other state hit those countries that voiced such accusations.
“Without a reaction, such absolutely unacceptable provocative steps and absolutely unacceptable groundless, unsubstantiated accusations against Russia will not remain.
In any case, any actions of Russia will be carried out in our own interests, "RIA Novosti quotes Peskov.
The presidential press secretary drew attention to the fact that Vladimir Putin emphasized that Russia wants to be on good terms with other countries, but the message of the Russian leader "stubbornly does not want to hear either in Washington, Brussels or European capitals."
Deteriorating relations between Russia and the Czech Republic
Recall that on April 17, Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babis and First Deputy Prime Minister, Interior Minister Jan Hamacek at a press conference announced the alleged involvement of Russian intelligence in the explosions at ammunition depots in Vrbetica in 2014.
At the same time, Prague refused to disclose the details of the investigation into the incident.
At the same time, the Czech Republic announced the expulsion of 18 Russian diplomats.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the actions of the Czech side unfriendly and declared 20 employees of the Czech Embassy in Russia persona non grata.
On April 22, the Czech Foreign Ministry announced a reduction in the number of Russian diplomats at the Russian Embassy in Prague to the number of Czech diplomats in Moscow.
In particular, the head of the Czech Foreign Ministry, Jakub Kulganek, said that 63 employees of the Russian embassy should leave the Czech Republic.
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The representative of the Russian foreign policy department Maria Zakharova then stressed that Prague "embarked on the path of destroying relations" and "continues to promote the anti-Russian campaign under falsified pretexts."
At the same time, on April 25, President of the Republic Milos Zeman, speaking with an emergency appeal, said that Czech counterintelligence had no evidence that "Russian agents" were in the Vrbetice area in 2014 when the explosions took place there.
Zeman added that "there are still many blank spots" in the bombing case.
After that, Maria Zakharova drew attention to the fact that Prague had no prerequisites for bringing charges against Moscow in the case of the explosions.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the statements of Czech officials about the causes of the explosions at the weapons depot in Vrbetica "pure schizophrenia".
He also noted that Moscow will be ready to gradually restore the normal work of diplomatic missions if "reason prevails" in Prague.
“I really hope that our Czech colleagues will come to their senses and look at the results of what they have started.
If reason prevails, we are ready to restore, albeit gradually, but restore conditions for the normal functioning of diplomatic missions, "the minister said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Statements by a number of European countries
Amid deteriorating relations between Moscow and Prague, the European Parliament called on EU countries to take "decisive measures" against Russia over Moscow's alleged involvement in the Vrbetica incident.
After that, Prime Minister of Slovakia Eduard Heger announced that Bratislava was expelling three Russian diplomats.
On April 23, the foreign ministries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats in solidarity with the Czech Republic.
On April 28, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced retaliatory measures.
The department explained that on the basis of the principle of reciprocity, Moscow is sending two employees of the Lithuanian embassy, as well as one employee of the diplomatic missions of Latvia and Estonia.
The heads of the embassies of these countries were declared "a strong protest in connection with the provocative, unfounded actions" on the expulsion of the employees of the Russian embassies.
Also, the Russian Foreign Ministry declared three employees of the Slovak Embassy in Moscow persona non grata.
Claims of Bulgaria against Russia
In turn, on April 28, the Bulgarian prosecutor's office announced that it suspects six Russians of involvement in four explosions that occurred at arms depots and factories in the country between 2011 and 2020.
Sofia also said it was working with Prague to "establish a link" between the explosions in Bulgaria and the explosions in the Czech Republic in 2014.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov drew attention to the absurdity of the Bulgarian side's accusations.
In particular, the minister expressed surprise that the speech about these events in Bulgaria suddenly came "after the Czech Republic realized the events of 2014."
“It’s also good that we haven’t killed Archduke Ferdinand yet, but, apparently, we are heading for this,” said the head of the Foreign Ministry.
On April 29, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry declared one Russian diplomat persona non grata.
The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, commenting on the situation, noted that such things do not remain unanswered, and also expressed the opinion that the actions of the Czech Republic and Bulgaria are part of the campaign within the framework of the policy of containing Russia.