Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Moscow expels 8 employees of Japanese embassy

Moscow is expelling eight employees of the Japanese embassy who have been asked to leave the Russian Federation by May 10, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

On April 27, a representative of the Japanese embassy in Moscow was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry and was told that since the beginning of Russia's operation in Ukraine, official Tokyo had taken an openly hostile anti-Russian course, destroying mutually beneficial cooperation.

"The apotheosis of this line was the expulsion of eight Russian diplomats from Japan. Guided by the principle of reciprocity, the Russian side demanded that eight Japanese diplomatic workers leave our country by May 10," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry added that the full responsibility for such a development of events lays solely with the government of Japan, which had made a choice in favour of abandoning friendly, constructive relations with Russia.

Japan openly took the position of full support for neo-Nazi formations operating on the territory of Ukraine, and provides political, economic and military assistance to the regime in Kyiv, the ministry added.

The Japanese Embassy in Moscow said that Tokyo did not agree with Russia's statements in connection with the expulsion of Japanese diplomats, and the country's ambassador protested at a meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry.

(ANI/Sputnik)