In response to the revocation of the accreditation for Russian diplomats, Russia will cease the work of its permanent mission to NATO in Brussels from the beginning of November. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced this at a press conference on Monday, according to the Interfax agency. The work of the NATO information office in Moscow will also be terminated. In addition, the NATO military mission in Moscow is not allowed to continue working. As of November 1st, their employees will have their accreditations withdrawn. "NATO is not interested in an equal dialogue or cooperation," Lavrov said. In urgent cases, the military alliance could turn to the Russian ambassador in Belgium.
A good ten days ago, the military alliance withdrew their accreditation from eight Russian diplomats because, as members of the Russian mission to NATO, they were also said to have worked for the secret service.
It was also decided to reduce the maximum size of the Russian mission.
Instead of 20, only ten people should be accredited in the future.
Moscow then announced countermeasures.
After the decision, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg left it open whether the Russian officials at NATO were engaged in classic espionage or were simply not declared as secret service employees.
The decision to withdraw accreditation is based on the intelligence service's own findings, and no comment is made on such, said a NATO spokesman.
At that time there was clear criticism from the Kremlin.
The move contradicts the statements of NATO representatives about a desired improvement in relations, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
"Of course, these actions do not allow us to have any illusions about a possible normalization of relations and a resumption of the dialogue with NATO."