Czech Republic to reduce, put cap on employee number at Russian embassy

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PRAGUE, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The Czech Republic will reduce and put a cap on the number of employees in the Russian embassy in Prague to the same number at the Czech embassy in Moscow, the Czech Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

The decision took effect as of Thursday and the Russian side has the deadline to withdraw its staff till the end of May, said the ministry.

"This is not a situation that would please us. We are not talking about escalation," said Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis at a press conference.

"We are interested in fair relations with Russia and we hoped that Russia would recognize the disproportionate response, but it did not happen. That is why we have decided to respond adequately," Babis said.

The Czech government said Saturday it would expel 18 Russian embassy staffers over the alleged involvement of the Russian special services in an ammunition depot explosion in 2014 in the Czech Republic.

In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Sunday it was expelling 20 staffers of the Czech embassy in Moscow.

Calling Russian response "overreacted" and "paralysing" its Moscow embassy operations because of its comparatively small size, the Czech Republic offered an ultimatum to Russia to reverse its decision or face more expulsions before Thursday noon.

"The Russian side has not responded until noon. We therefore decided to react as follows: Pursuant to Article 11 of the Vienna Convention, we are capping the number of Russian diplomats in Prague on the current state of our representation in Moscow. This decision is valid from today, Russia has time to withdraw its people until the end of May," said Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek.

"This decision is not directed against ordinary Russians who study or work with us," Kulhanek added. Enditem

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