Russia summoned the French ambassador to Moscow Pierre Lévy on Friday. Relations between Paris and Moscow have deteriorated since the start of the year.
Russia notably claimed in January to have killed 60 French “mercenaries” in Kharkiv, in the north-east of Ukraine. France denounced the claim as “a coordinated maneuver” of disinformation emanating from the Russians. The Russian Foreign Ministry also announced that it had summoned Slovenian Ambassador Darja Bavdaz Kuret on Friday to notify her of the expulsion of a Slovenian diplomat as a measure of “reciprocity” The French Foreign Ministry has expelled two Russian diplomats from Austria. Moscow said it had expelled an Austrian diplomat in response to the French expulsion of two Russians from Austria, and that it also had expelled two Austrian diplomats from the Russian Embassy in Ljubljana. The French foreign minister said on Monday that Paris no longer saw the "interest" in discussing with Moscow, "since the press releases that come out"