Russia suspends NATO mission following expulsion of staff for spying concerns – National

Russia’s overseas minister stated Monday that the nation is suspending its mission to NATO.

International Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that the transfer is in response to final week’s expulsion by NATO of eight members of Russia’s mission to the navy alliance.

NATO stated that they have been secretly working as intelligence officers and halved the dimensions of Moscow’s workforce in a position to work at its headquarters.

READ MORE: Russia surpasses 1,000 COVID-19 day by day deaths for the primary time

Lavrov additionally introduced that NATO’s navy liaison and knowledge workplaces in Moscow could be closed.

The Russian mission isn’t based mostly at NATO’s headquarters, however in a leafy neighborhood within the south of the Belgian capital, Brussels.

NATO suspended sensible cooperation with Russia in 2014 after it annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, however has stored channels open for high-level conferences and for military-to-military cooperation.

However the NATO-Russia Council, their most popular discussion board, has solely met sporadically since then.

0:58
Russia’s ruling pro-Putin occasion wins majority in parliamentary election