New Delhi: In retaliation for trade and economic sanctions slapped in support of Ukraine, Russia has expelled 18 European Union (EU) diplomats, the country`s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, reported IANS.
The Ministry had summoned the Head of the EU Delegation to Russia, Markus Ederer in a protest over the EU`s decision to declare 19 Russian diplomats "personae non-gratae" earlier in April, the statement added.
"In response to the hostile actions of the European Union, 18 employees working at the EU Delegation to Russia have been declared `personae non-gratae` and will have to leave the territory of the Russian Federation in the near future," Xinhua news agency reported.
Those come after the fresh set of sanctions against Russia targeted President Vladimir Putin’s daughters and their assets in addition to many of his close aides.
The new sanctions were introduced in response to the brutal Bucha killings in Ukraine, after which Moscow was accused of committing war crimes. However, the nation has vehemently denied hurting civilians.
As far as sanctions against Putin’s daughters are concerned, his younger daughter Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova is a tech executive whose work supports the Russian government and its defence industry.
On the other hand, his elder daughter Maria Vladimirovna Vorontsova leads government-funded programs that have received billions of dollars from the Kremlin for genetics research, and are personally overseen by Putin.
Both the individuals are facing assets freeze and travel bans by the EU.
Meanwhile, both Russia and Ukraine projected optimism ahead of another scheduled round of talks Wednesday, even as Moscow's forces rained fire on Kyiv and other major cities in a bid to crush the resistance that has frustrated Kremlin hopes for lightning victory.
(With agency inputs)
