Norway is expelling 15 Russian embassy officials that the foreign ministry said were ‘intelligence officers’ operating under the cover of diplomatic positions, a move which Moscow said it would respond to
The Russian foreign ministry said Moscow would respond to the expulsions, state-owned news agency TASS reported, without elaborating.The expulsions could further complicate the process of transferring the chair of the Arctic Council, a multilateral body in which Arctic nations discuss issues affecting the polar region.
Moscow currently holds the chair but Norway is due to take over on May 11 and Oslo had said it would prioritise aHuitfeldt said it was too early to say whether the expulsions would affect the Arctic Council transition. The Nordic country still seeks to maintain normal diplomatic relations with Russia, and Russian diplomats are welcome in Norway, Huitfeldt said.Our Standards:
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