Moscow, Russia | AFP | Tuesday 4/18/2023
Moscow said on Tuesday it had summoned the US, British and Canadian ambassadors for “gross interference” in Russia’s domestic affairs.
Russia’s foreign ministry did not say precisely why the envoys were called in, but Moscow already blasted them for their statement denouncing a 25-year sentence against Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza on Monday.
The ambassadors were summoned for “gross interference in Russia’s internal affairs and activities that do not correspond to their diplomatic status,” the foreign ministry said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.
The high-profile opposition politician Kara-Murza, who also holds the British citizenship, was on Monday sentenced to 25 years in prison on treason and other charges for criticising the Ukraine offensive.
“Today’s verdict is a sad testament to the dark turn this struggle (for democracy) has come to,” Canadian ambassador Alison LeClaire said at the time.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova implied the envoys would be called in “to refresh their memories… so that they remember what diplomats should and should not do”.
© Agence France-Presse
