Vladimir Dzhabarov, First Deputy Head of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, said that several Czech politicians had spoken out against the severance of relations between Russia and the Czech Republic, but the senator expressed the hope that things would not come to a severance of relations. He announced this on Thursday, April 22, on the air of the Vmeste-RF TV channel.
“As far as I know, the Minister of Trade of the Czech Republic and one of the Deputy Prime Ministers have already spoken out against the severance of relations. Thousands of Czech companies have been successfully working with the Russian Federation for a long time, they will lose a significant part of their income. I don’t think it will come to this, ”the senator said.
Dzhabarov noted that Czech politicians were “hastily” with their “ill-considered” conclusions. As the senator added, all accusations from the Czech Republic, including the alleged involvement of the Russian special services in the explosion at the ammunition depot, are not supported by any documents and evidence.
“The Czechs have made a mistake. They tried so hard to show solidarity in front of the Washington gentleman that they even ran ahead, and other countries, probably, think how good it is that it is not us, but the Czechs. They clearly overdid it, announcing the expulsion of our 18 diplomats <...> This is just a made-up story to be in the forefront of the fight against the Russian Federation together with the Americans, “he explained.
On the same day, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, announced that Moscow would respond to the decision of the Czech Republic to reduce the staff of the Russian Embassy in Prague. According to her, Prague “embarked on the path of destruction of relations.”
Thus, she commented on the statement by Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulganek, who announced that the composition of the Russian Embassy in Prague would be reduced to the level of the republic’s diplomatic mission in Moscow. It was reported that the head of the Czech Foreign Ministry, by such actions, fulfilled his ultimatum to bring the number of the Russian diplomatic mission in Prague into “parity correspondence” if Moscow did not decide by 13:00 Moscow time on Thursday to return the employees of the Czech diplomatic mission declared persona non grata.
In response to these statements from Prague, Zakharova emphasized the inadmissibility of an ultimatum tone towards the Russian Federation. The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also stated that Moscow will give an answer to the Czech Republic if the confrontational line of Prague continues.
Relations between the two countries became strained after the Prime Minister of the country, Andrei Babis, announced on April 17 that the Russian special services were allegedly involved in an explosion at an ammunition depot in Vrbetica in 2014. On the same day, the Czech Republic decided to expel 18 Russian diplomats.
Moscow, in response, declared 20 employees of the Czech embassy in the Russian Federation persona non grata. The accusations in Russia were categorically denied, and the fact that Prague does not publish a report on the explosion, Zakharova called evidence of a lie.
In the Czech Republic, this reaction from the Russian side was called stronger than expected. According to Kulganek, the expulsion of 20 diplomats from Russia “practically paralyzed” the work of the Czech embassy in Moscow.