The Russian Embassy in France commented on the summons of Russian Ambassador Alexei Meshkov to the French Foreign Ministry and stated that such a measure can be considered as part of the demarche agreed between the countries of the European Union (EU). The department announced this on Tuesday, May 4.
“The summons of the Russian ambassador to France to the country’s Foreign Ministry is, in our opinion, part of the demarche agreed upon by the EU countries and in many respects repeats what was announced to the Russian representative to the EU. For his part, the ambassador gave explanations on this issue that had already been repeatedly voiced by the Russian side, emphasizing that our retaliatory measures were dictated by the decisions of the European Union of March 2 and 22, when a number of Russian officials were barred from entering these countries, ” the message of the department.
According to Gazeta.ru, the French Foreign Ministry condemned the measures taken by Moscow and noted that the corresponding steps would not help to reduce tensions in bilateral relations. In response to the statements of the French side, Meshkov said that the EU authorities had repeatedly ignored the calls of the Russian side to abandon the sanctions lists.
Russian diplomat Alexei Meshkov was summoned to the French Foreign Ministry on Monday, May 3, due to the measures taken by the Russian government against European officials. Meshkov was also expressed concern about the restriction on the hiring of employees in diplomatic departments.