NATO halves size of Russian mission to alliance

BRUSSELS (TASS): The North Atlantic Alliance confirmed the reduction of Russia’s mission to NATO from 20 to 10 people and the expulsion of eight dipl-omats from Brussels. TASS was informed about this on Wednesday in the press service of the alliance.
“We can confirm that NATO has made a decision to reduce the number of diplomatic accreditations that the Russian Federation can have with NATO to 10 (previously there were 20 – note by TASS). We can confirm that we have revoked the accreditation of eight members of the Russian mission to NATO,” – said a spokesman who claimed that those deprived of accreditation are, in the alliance’s view, Russian intelligence officers whose status has not been notified.
“NATO’s policy towards Russia remains consistent. We are strengthening our d-eterrence and defense in re-sponse to the aggressive ac-tions of the Russian Feder-ation, while remaining op-en to meaningful dialogue,” the press officer assured.
Currently, 18 diplomats are working in the Russian permanent mission to NAT-O, two vacancies are available. According to the Sky News TV channel , the diplomats deprived of their accreditation were given time until the end of the month to leave Brussels.
At the same time, the channel quoted a representative of the alliance, who expressed his readiness for dialogue with Moscow. “NATO’s policy towards Russia remains consistent. We have strengthened our containment and defense forces in response to Russia’s aggressive actions, while at the same time we remain open to meaningful dialogue,” he said.
According to the British TV channel, the decision was made in response to the alleged “hostile activities of Russia in recent years.” As the channel clarifies, in the summer, the alliance asked its member countries to draw up reports on suspicious hostile activities that they may have noticed on their territory. All this information was reportedly collected last month, after which it was decided to take such a step.
Back in 2018, NATO ousted seven staffers from the Russian mission after former Russian intelligence officer, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter were alleged to have been poisoned in the UK. London claimed that the duo were poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent, called Novichok, and maintained that it was “highly likely” Moscow was responsible for the incident.
The news comes just a day after NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called on allies to engage with Russia to avoid another cold war or a new arms race. “We have to talk to Russia because we don’t want a new Cold War. We don’t want a new arms race and Russia is our neighbour so we need to engage with them,” the NATO chief stated during his two-day visit to Washington on Tuesday.
At the same time, Stoltenberg emphasised that the alliance would stick to its dual track approach toward Moscow that is based on deterrence and dialogue. While stressing that NATO had made significant progress in adapting to what he described as a more “assertive Russia”, he pointed out that relations with Moscow are at the lowest level since the Cold War. It was revealed earlier this week that Stoltenberg had also extended an invitation to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to revive the NATO-Russia dialogue. The suggestion was made during a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, according to a Russian lawmaker, who attended it as part of the Russian delegation.