Belarus expels 12 Ukrainian diplomats
ROMAN PETRENKO - WEDNESDAY, 23 MARCH 2022, 15:06
Belarus has "invited" 12 Ukrainian diplomats to leave the country within 72 hours, allowing only the ambassador and four others to continue to work.
Source: Belarusian Foreign Ministry quoted by Belta, Oleh Mykolenko, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman, in a statement to Ukrainska Pravda
Quote from the Belarusian Foreign Ministry: "Numerous unfriendly actions by Ukraine aimed at the irresponsible destruction of interstate relations with Belarus have been registered over a number of years.
It has reached a point where the Ukrainian authorities have started interfering in the internal affairs of Belarus.
According to Nikolenko, " Following yesterday's provocation in the media, today the Belarusian side has announced the downsizing of the Ukrainian embassy in Minsk and the closure of the Ukrainian consulate in Brest. Twelve Ukrainian diplomats have been instructed to leave the territory of Belarus within 72 hours.
We regard such actions by Belarus as yet another unprovoked and unfriendly move against Ukraine.
Ukraine will not leave Belarus' actions without a proper response, and we will inform you about this in due course.
After the departure of some Ukrainian diplomats, the Ukrainian embassy in Minsk will be operating with a reduced staff headed by Ambassador Ihor Kizim."
Background: the State Security Committee of Belarus said that spies were allegedly working under the cover of the Ukrainian embassy, and it accused Belarusian journalist Denys Ivashyn, who was detained a year ago, of cooperating with the Ukrainian intelligence service.
