The Russian Embassy in France commented on the summons of the Russian ambassador Alexei Meshkov to the French Foreign Ministry and noted that such an action should be regarded as part of the demarche with respect to Russia agreed by the European Union (EU) countries. The department announced this on Tuesday, May 3.
“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,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added that Meshkov indicated explanations of Russian actions, which were repeatedly voiced by Moscow: for example, Russia’s retaliatory measures were due to the EU’s decision of March 2 and 22 of this year, when entry into the EU countries was closed to a number of Russian persons.
The Russian diplomat also focused on the EU’s ignorance of Moscow’s calls to abandon the sanctions lists and include parliamentarians in them.
In addition, the embassy said, the anti-Russian hysteria in Brussels and a number of other European capitals “does not help to rectify the already difficult situation in relations between Russia and the European Union.”
On the same day, May 4, Russian Ambassador Alexei Meshkov was summoned to the French Foreign Ministry in connection with the measures taken by Moscow against European officials. The representative of Russia was also expressed concern about the limitation of the number of employees in diplomatic missions.