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‘Hostile Step’: Russians Announce Corrections Related to Putin’s Visit to Croatia

The Russian embassy confirmed on Tuesday that, considering the “hostile step” taken by Zagreb in expelling a Russian diplomat, there will likely be certain “corrections” regarding President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Croatia, reported Croatian Television.

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“Given the hostile step that Croatia has taken towards Russia, there will likely be certain corrections regarding President Vladimir Putin’s arrival in Croatia,” the Russian embassy responded to HRT’s inquiry about whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would accept the invitation from President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović to visit Croatia.

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The Russian embassy expressed “deep regret that the Croatian side, following the path of bloc solidarity of individual EU and NATO countries, made a hasty and poorly thought-out decision, the consequences of which will negatively resonate for the further development of our bilateral relations, including their trade-economic part.”

“Solidarity”

In recent days, relations between Russia and the European Union countries, as well as the USA and Canada, have been strained following a coordinated response from Brussels and Washington and several other capitals regarding the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the United Kingdom, deeming the use of chemical weapons on NATO member territory unacceptable.

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Croatia is one of the 18 European Union countries that, as Prime Minister Andrej Plenković announced on Monday, decided to “show solidarity with the United Kingdom regarding the nature of the attack,” thus standing alongside the EU and the USA.

The USA expelled 60 Russian diplomats.

Moscow previously assessed the decision of some EU member states, as well as the USA and Canada, as a “provocative gesture of solidarity with London,” emphasizing that these countries “unconditionally listen to the British authorities regarding the so-called Skripal affair, without attempting to understand the circumstances of that event.”

>>>Sinčić: The Expulsion of the Russian Diplomat is an Impulsive, Uncoordinated, and Exaggerated Decision

Russia considers these measures a continuation of the confrontational path towards escalation, official Moscow announced and stated that it would respond to them.

NATO is the latest to announce the expulsion of seven Russian diplomats, thereby reducing the Russian diplomatic mission by one third.