Moscow, October 18 (BNA) Russia said on Monday that it will suspend the activities of its diplomatic mission to NATO after the Western military alliance expelled eight Russians in a row over spying.
In return, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the staff of the NATO military mission in Moscow will be stripped of their permits from November 1, and the alliance’s information office in the Russian capital will be closed.
“If NATO members have any urgent issues, they can contact our ambassador in Belgium about these questions,” Lavrov said at a press conference.
NATO said on October 6 that it had expelled eight members of the alliance’s Russian mission, which it said were “undisclosed Russian intelligence officers”.
Moscow said at the time that the expulsions had undermined hopes of normalizing relations with the US-led coalition.
“NATO is not interested in fair dialogue and joint action,” Lavrov said on Monday, announcing the closure of the Russian mission.
“If that’s the case, we don’t see the need to keep pretending that changes for the foreseeable future are possible.”
The spat marks the latest deterioration in East-West relations that have already reached post-Cold War lows, according to Reuters.
Russia accuses NATO of provocative activity near its borders, and recently conducted its own large maneuvers.
The alliance says it is determined to bolster the security of member states close to Russia after Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.