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Thursday, December 12, 2019, 16:47
Russia expels 2 German diplomats over Berlin murder probe
By Reuters
Thursday, December 12, 2019, 16:47 By Reuters

A tourist boat floats on the Moskva river in front of the Kremlin in downtown Moscow on Dec 9, 2019. (DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP)

MOSCOW / BERLIN  — Russia's foreign ministry said Thursday that it has expelled two German diplomats in retaliation for Germany doing the same last week.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that it was making the move “due to the reciprocity principle” and ordered them to leave the country within the next seven days.

The German government notes with regret the Russian government’s decision to declare two employees of the German embassy in Moscow personae non gratae

German Foreign Ministry

ALSO READ: Russia pledges response to Germany's diplomatic expulsions

The German Foreign Ministry expelled two employees of the Russian Embassy in Berlin last Wednesday, after Russian authorities didn’t answer requests by Germany to help shed light on a brazen daylight slaying of a Georgian man in Berlin.

German federal prosecutors took over the investigation after concluding that evidence suggests involvement either by the government of Russia or Chechnya.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement last week that the “politicized approach to the investigation is inappropriate” and promised to take “reciprocal measures.”

READ MORE: Russian FM: Ex-spy's poisoning is a distraction from Brexit

Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this week that the slain man was “a bandit" and “a murderer” and said that Russia repeatedly asked Germany to extradite him, but to no avail.

Germany on Thursday described as “unjustified” Russia’s decision to expel two German diplomats from Moscow in a tit-for-tat response to Berlin’s decision last week to order the expulsion of two Russian diplomats.

 “The German government notes with regret the Russian government’s decision to declare two employees of the German embassy in Moscow personae non gratae,” the German Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“It sends the wrong signal and is unjustified.”

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