ATHENS (Reuters) -Greece will ask 12 Russian diplomats to leave the country in reaction to the war in Ukraine, declaring them “personae non-gratae”, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
The Greek foreign ministry’s general secretary has informed the Russian ambassador of the decision. The Russian diplomats were not acting in accordance with international rules, a foreign ministry official said.
“Russia will give an appropriate response,” Russian news agency RIA said, citing a foreign ministry spokesperson.
Italy, Sweden, Spain and Denmark announced similar moves this week.
The European Commission proposed sweeping new sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, including a ban on coal imports.
Russia says it launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine on Feb. 24 to demilitarize and “denazify” the country.
Ukraine and the West saw that as a pretext for an unprovoked invasion.
(Reporting by Renee Maltezou, George Georgiopoulos and Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Kim Coghill)
