Moscow and Kiev have tempered their retribution in the latest diplomatic spat, apparently agreeing to expel just one representative each and allow two consul generals to remain at work.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that it would not insist on expelling the Russian consul general in Odessa, Alexander Grachyov.
“That doesn’t mean that Ukraine made a mistake or that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry no longer believes that Grachyov’s activities go beyond the bounds of his diplomatic status,” a Ukrainian Embassy representative told Interfax.
On Wednesday, Moscow had proposed that Kiev recall its consul general in St. Petersburg, Natalya Prokopovich, although it later suspended the proposal.
Two other diplomats were not as lucky, however.
Moscow expelled Igor Beryozkin, identified by Kommersant Ukraine as head of the embassy’s political section, while Kiev last week ordered out Vladimir Lysenko, an adviser at the Russian Embassy in Kiev.
Beryozkin reportedly oversaw political ties, including the status of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet base in Sevastopol.
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