{"id":119106,"date":"2021-04-18T09:11:22","date_gmt":"2021-04-18T01:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=119106"},"modified":"2021-04-18T09:11:26","modified_gmt":"2021-04-18T01:11:26","slug":"russia-ukraine-expel-diplomats-as-tensions-soar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=119106","title":{"rendered":"Russia, Ukraine expel diplomats as tensions soar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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SAINT PETERSBURG, April 17, 2021 (BSS\/AFP) \u2013 Russia on Saturday said it would expel a Ukrainian diplomat, prompting an immediate pledge of retaliation from Kiev, further escalating tensions over Moscow\u2019s troop build-up on Ukraine\u2019s eastern flank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The detention of a Ukrainian consul in the second city Saint Petersburg comes at a time of global concern of a repeat of Moscow\u2019s 2014 aggression, when Russia annexed the peninsula of Crimea and backed separatists in Ukraine\u2019s east.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moscow claimed the Ukrainian diplomat had been caught \u201cred-handed\u201d trying to obtain sensitive information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, the Ukrainian foreign ministry protested \u201cthe illegal\u201d detention of its diplomat and said Kiev would expel a senior Russian diplomat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kiev has been battling Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine since 2014 and clashes intensified early this year, effectively shredding a ceasefire agreed last July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around 30 Ukrainian troops have been killed since the start of the year, compared to 50 last year. Most of them were victims of sniper fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia has detained a number of Ukrainian nationals on suspicion of spying in recent years but the arrest of a diplomat is rare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA Ukrainian diplomat, a consul of Ukraine\u2019s Consulate General in Saint Petersburg, Alexander Sosonyuk, has been detained by Russia\u2019s FSB,\u201d the security service said in a statement, using the Russian language spelling of his name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was held on Friday, the security service said. Kiev said the diplomat had spent several hours in detention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Russian foreign ministry said Saturday it had summoned Ukraine\u2019s charge d\u2019affaires Vasyl Pokotylo and told him that the Ukrainian diplomat had 72 hours to leave the country \u201cbeginning April 19\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Russian side pointed to the inadmissibility of such kind of activity,\u201d the foreign ministry said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia\u2019s domestic intelligence agency said Sosonyuk had been caught \u201cred-handed\u201d during a meeting with a Russian national as he sought to receive \u201cclassified\u201d information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSuch activity is not compatible with his diplomatic status and is clearly hostile in nature towards the Russian Federation,\u201d the FSB said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn conformity with international law, measures will be taken against the foreign diplomat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Kiev, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said it protested the diplomat\u2019s detention and rejected Russia\u2019s accusations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said Russia had \u201ccrudely\u201d violated diplomatic conventions and sought to escalate tensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn response to the above-mentioned provocation, a senior diplomat of the Russian embassy in Kiev must leave Ukrainian territory within 72 hours beginning April 19,\u201d Nikolenko said. He did not provide further details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faced with the largest deployment of Russian troops on Ukraine\u2019s borders since 2014, President Volodymyr Zelensky has requested more help from the West, and Western leaders have urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop intimidating Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine come against the background of a new war of words between Moscow and Washington as new US President Joe Biden seeks a tougher line against Putin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US on Thursday announced sanctions and the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats in retaliation for what the White House says is the Kremlin\u2019s US election interference, a massive cyber attack and other hostile activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia said Friday it would expel US diplomats and sanction US officials in response while recommending the US envoy leave Russia \u201cfor consultations\u201d. — NNN-AGENCIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SAINT PETERSBURG, April 17, 2021 (BSS\/AFP) \u2013 Russia on Saturday said it would expel a Ukrainian diplomat, prompting an immediate pledge of retaliation from Kiev, further escalating tensions over Moscow\u2019s troop build-up on Ukraine\u2019s eastern flank. The detention of a Ukrainian consul in the second city Saint Petersburg comes at a time of global concern […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":119108,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[209],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119106"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=119106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/119108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=119106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=119106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=119106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}