The Russian Foreign Ministry’s move is related to comments by the U.S., British and Canadian ambassadors on the sentence handed down to opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza.
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“The ambassadors of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada have been summoned to the Foreign Ministry for blatant interference in Russia’s internal affairs and activities inconsistent with diplomatic status,” the ministry said in a statement.
The three ambassadors condemned in a joint statement the Moscow court sentence that sentenced the opposition activist to 25 years in prison. They called for the immediate release of the Russian-British dual national.
The Russian Ministry called this attitude of the U.S. and its allies “ridiculous and hypocritical.” It warned that officials who use their diplomatic cover for such disruptive activities will be expelled from Russia.
��������Russian Foreign Ministry warned Canadian Ambassador Alison LeClaire about the consequences of abusing the status of a diplomat
Canadian Ambassador to Russia Alison LeClaire was summoned on Tuesday due to unacceptable public comments about the verdict of Vladimir Kara-Murza*
— Cmerch (@CarlBar90528835)
April 18, 2023
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova earlier also commented on the statements of the three envoys, calling them “shameless hypocrisy” and “the height of cynicism.”
The diplomat warned against the politicization of international human rights issues and brought up serious human rights violations and persecution of dissidents in the envoys’ countries.
Kara-Murza was accused of treason against the state and of cooperating with undesirable organizations linked to foreign powers hostile to Russia. He was vice president of the Washington-based Free Russia Foundation, which advocates regime change in Moscow.
