The Italian government has expelled 30 Russian diplomats due to security concerns, foreign minister Luigi Di Maio said on Tuesday, describing the officials as "personae non grata.”
The Russian ambassador to Italy was summoned to the ministry and notified of the decision this morning, Di Maio said, speaking from Berlin to RAI public broadcaster.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed the expulsions.
“This measure, taken in coordination with other European and Atlantic partners, was made necessary by motives related to our national security, in the context of the current crisis situation stemming from the unjustified aggression of Ukraine by the Russian Federation,” Di Maio said.
Italian media quoted Russian State media as saying that Russia would respond in kind to the diplomatic expulsions, AA reports
Italy is the latest EU country to expel Russian diplomats amid international outrage over killings in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, near Kyiv, where dozens of bodies have been found in recent days in mass graves or on the streets.
The wave of expulsions of Russian diplomats in the EU has been slammed as a "short-sighted move" by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov who told reporters that it would "inevitably lead to retaliatory steps,” reports Al Jazeera.
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