The Russian foreign ministry has summoned Germany’s charge d’affaires in Moscow, Bernd Finke, over what it described as “anti-Russian actions and statements” by German authorities.
The ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that the move followed the summoning of Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechaev to the German foreign ministry on Tuesday.
According to the Russian Embassy, German authorities protested an August 5 incident involving an alleged attempt to use an explosive-laden drone at Leipzig Airport and blamed Russian state structures for the planned act of sabotage without presenting evidence to support the accusation.
Germany to shut Russian consulate
Germany also announced plans to impose sanctions at the EU and bilateral levels over the incident.
The measures include closing Russia’s Consulate General in Bonn by September 18 and terminating a 2011 Russian-German intergovernmental agreement governing the activities of cultural and information centres, according to the embassy.
The latter measure would also lead to the closure of the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin, while employees of the consulate and Russian House, along with their family members, have been instructed to leave Germany, the embassy said.
Nechaev rejected Berlin’s accusations and said the measures announced by Germany represented an unprecedented escalation in Russian-German relations.
The ambassador warned that the measures “will not remain without consequences", according to the embassy.
The latest diplomatic exchange comes amid a continued deterioration in Russian-German relations, strained by the war in Ukraine and differences over European security and sanctions policy.
