German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock plans to expel more than 30 Russian diplomats accredited in Berlin. It has been reported Focus.
According to German security officials, diplomats from Russia could use their diplomatic immunity to “illegally recruit German informants from politics, trade, science and the armed forces” for the purpose of “sabotage or disinformation operations”.
The German Foreign Ministry believes that in response to Berlin’s actions, Moscow “could declare even more German diplomats undesirable”.
Austria at the end of February announced four Russian diplomat persona non grata. The Austrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that two diplomats from the Russian embassy took actions incompatible with their diplomatic status.
On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had decided to organize a special military operation in Ukraine in response to a request for assistance from the heads of the LPR and DPR.
The decision to run the operation became the justification for new sanctions against Russia by the United States and its allies.