In Russia, 37 Ukrainian diplomats remain in the diplomatic service, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine for European Integration Olena Zerkal has said.
“There are 37 of our diplomats. And now we are submitting the missing number for approval,” she said at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Affairs on April 4.
According to Zerkal, it is possible that there will be 13 diplomats to replace the deported ones.
The deputy minister added that the Foreign Ministry is working to ensure the protection of the rights of Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia, despite the expulsion of diplomats.
As reported, on March 26, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced the expulsion of 13 Russian diplomats “in response to the cynical chemical attack in Salisbury.” On March 28, Russian diplomats left the territory of Ukraine.
“On March 30, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the chiefs of diplomatic missions of Australia, Albania, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and Ukraine,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement available on its website.
“They were handed notes of protest and told that, in response to the unfounded demands by the relevant states on expelling Russian diplomatic workers based on the United Kingdom’s unsubstantiated accusations leveled at Russia due to the [Sergei] Skripal case, Russia declares the relevant number of employees of these countries’ diplomatic missions in the Russian Federation personae non grata,” the ministry said.
