Russia condemned the decision of Germany, Sweden, and Poland to expel Russian diplomats, in response to a similar decision taken by Moscow on February 5.

Iran PressEurope: "The decision taken by Poland, Germany, and Sweden is baseless and unfriendly," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told "Russia 1", reiterating her condemnation of what she considered Western "interference" in Russia's internal affairs.

Earlier, the German Foreign Ministry said that Berlin expelled a diplomat working in the Russian embassy in Berlin in response to Moscow's expulsion of a German diplomat last week.

The ministry declared an employee of the Russian embassy in Berlin persona non grata, adding, "Russia has expelled a number of European Union diplomats, including one at the German embassy. This decision was not justified in any way. "

On the other hand, Russia said that the expelled European diplomats participated in a demonstration in support of the imprisoned Kremlin opposition, Alexei Navalny, but Germany responded by saying that he was merely fulfilling the duty to legally report developments where they occurred.

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