Relations between Russia and the Baltic region reached a new low as tit-for-tat expulsions and staff cuts were set to leave no ambassador-level diplomats between the nations.
(Bloomberg) — Relations between Russia and the Baltic region reached a new low as tit-for-tat expulsions and staff cuts were set to leave no ambassador-level diplomats between the nations.
Latvia will pull its envoy in Russia in response to Moscow’s decision on Monday to expel Estonia’s ambassador, completing a diplomatic downgrade across the Baltics in response to the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said his country will recall its ambassador by Feb. 24 due to the “ongoing brutal Russian aggression against Ukraine.”
After Russia expelled the Estonian envoy, accusing authorities in Tallinn of “Russophobia,” Rinkevics said his government’s action was “in solidarity with Estonia.” Earlier this month, Estonia ordered the Russian embassy to reduce its staff by almost half to 23 diplomats, bringing the number in line with its own team in Moscow.
The European Union’s Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — have been among the most vocal in condemning President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Rinkevics issued a barbed critique of Germany’s hesitation in delivering battle tanks to Ukraine on Monday, saying there are no longer any “good arguments” not to.
Lithuania withdrew its ambassador to Moscow last April in response to atrocities committed in Bucha, the town outside of Kyiv where evidence emerged of massacres and torture to civilians under Russian occupation.
The round of downgrades prompted Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu to call for other governments to follow suit to the “principle of parity set by Estonia,” according to an interview with Estonian Public Broadcasting.
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