Russia asks Slovenia to reduce diplomatic staff in Moscow

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - In a tit-for-tat move, Russia on Thursday demanded Slovenia to reduce its diplomatic staff in Moscow by four people within 10 days.

In April, Slovenia demanded a cut in the number of staff at the Russian Embassy in Ljubljana, and expelled four Russian diplomats.

In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it summoned and lodged a protest with the Slovenian charge d'affaires in connection with "the groundless attempts of the Slovenian authorities to blame Russia for war crimes in Ukraine" and the Slovenian side's military assistance "to the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime."

"In response to the unfriendly steps taken by Ljubljana earlier to reduce the number of the Russian diplomatic mission and the deterioration of its working conditions, the Slovenian diplomat was handed a note demanding to reduce the number of diplomatic staff of the Slovenian Embassy in Moscow...," it said.