Russia declares Lithuanian envoy persona non grata in retaliation
Move comes 2 days after Vilnius ordered top Russian diplomat to leave country
By Dmitri Chirciu
MOSCOW (AA) – Russia on Wednesday declared the Lithuanian charge d'affaires in the country persona non grata in retaliation for the expulsion of its envoy two days ago.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said an employee from the Lithuanian Embassy in Moscow was summoned, and “handed a note with a message that, in response to the unjustified expulsion of the Russian charge d’affaires in Lithuania, the charge d’affaires of Lithuania in Russia, Virginija Umbrasiene, is being declared persona non grata.”
Umbrasiene was ordered to leave the country within five days, it said, adding that Moscow is also shutting down the cultural center of Lithuania's diplomatic mission.
Lithuania had ordered Russian envoy Sergey Ryabokon to leave the country within five days on Monday.
Since the war on Ukraine in February, Latvia, a former Soviet republic, has closed its border to most Russian nationals, and designated Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism."
*Writing by Seda Sevencan in Istanbul
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