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Russian Permanent Representative to NATO Dmitry Rogozin addresses a news conference in Brussels after NATO ordered the expulsion of two Russian diplomats over a spy scandal - Source: Reuters -
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NATO has expelled two Russian diplomats over a spy scandal; a
move Moscow's ambassador said was intended to set back efforts by
Russia and the United States to repair relations.
Tensions between the former Cold War foes also rose on Thursday
over agreements which Moscow said gave it control over the borders
of two rebel regions in Georgia.
NATO ordered out the diplomats on the same day the alliance resumed
formal talks with Russia at ambassadorial level, eight months after
contacts were suspended over Russia's five-day war with Georgia
last August.
"Two Russian diplomats have been told they are not welcome here," a
NATO diplomat said.
The diplomat said they were expelled over the case of Herman Simm,
an Estonian jailed for treason in February for handing more than
2,000 pages of information to handlers in Russia's SVR Foreign
Intelligence Service.
A statement from the Russian mission to NATO said the move set the
wrong tone for the process of resuming NATO-Russia cooperation and
Russia's ambassador to the alliance Dmitry Rogozin said the
response would be "harsh and decisive".
The statement said Russia was still considering its response but
the expulsions, which came one week before alliance military
exercises in Georgia which have angered Russia, might call into
question a meeting of NATO-Russia foreign ministers expected in the
second half of May.
The diplomats were attached to the mission Russia has at NATO even
though it is not a member of the military alliance.
One was the son of Vladimir Chizhov, Moscow's ambassador to the
European Union, and the other a senior adviser to Rogozin.
Russia said the expulsions were driven by elements inside the
Western alliance that wanted to undermine ties with Moscow.
"A crude provocation has been made in relation to two employees of
Russia's permanent mission to NATO on an absolutely trumped-up
pretext without any clear explanation," Russia's Foreign Ministry
said in a statement.
Row over pacts with rebel regions
The 28-nation alliance and the European Union separately criticised
pacts giving Russia direct control over the de-facto borders of
Georgia's South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions.
Russia took formal control over the borders of the two regions
under the agreements, which were signed by Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev and the leaders of the rebel regions.
NATO spokesman James Appathurai said the signing of the agreements
contravened the peace deals brokered by the EU after Russia's brief
war with Georgia.
"This is in clear contravention of the 12th August and 8th
September agreements negotiated by the European Union and is not in
the interests of long-term peace and security in the South Caucasus
region," Appathurai told reporters.
The Czech EU Presidency also said the pacts contradicted the
agreements brokered by the bloc and recalled "the EU's full support
to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia in its
internationally recognized borders".
The regions were recognised by Moscow as independent states after
the war with Georgia.
Russia regards improving relations with NATO as part of a broader
effort to improve relations with the West, and in particular with
the United States.
Ties with Washington sank to a post-Cold War low under US
President George Bush.
Medvedev said on Thursday that NATO's May 6 war games amounted to a
challenge from the West.
Simm worked at the Estonian Defence Ministry from 1995 to 2006 and
had access to top secret documents, including those related to
NATO, which Estonia joined in 2004.
Estonian media said information Simm passed to the Russians
included documents on foreign countries' and international
organisations' communication and information systems, data
security, intelligence, counter-intelligence and defence
policy.
Estonia quit the former Soviet Union in 1991 and, along with its
Baltic neighbours Latvia and Lithuania, made integration with the
West via NATO and the European Union a top priority.
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