Russia summons US, British, Canadian ambassadors over ‘interference’ in internal affairs
Russia has summoned ambassadors of the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada to object to their "gross interference" in its domestic affairs.
In a statement on Tuesday, Russia's Foreign Ministry said that it had called in US, British and Canadian ambassadors to inform them that the Kremlin strongly protested against what it called meddling in Russia’s internal affairs.
"The ambassadors of the US, the UK and Canada have been summoned to the Foreign Ministry over gross interference in Russia’s internal affairs and activities that do not correspond to their diplomatic status," the statement reads.
The brief statement did not precisely say why the envoys were summoned, but Moscow has already denounced the three envoys for their statements condemning a 25-year sentence against Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, designated by the Kremlin as a foreign agent, a day earlier.
The judges on Monday awarded prosecutors the full 25-year prison term they had requested against the 41-year-old high-profile Russian opposition activist over his criticism of the war in Ukraine, the harshest prison sentence yet imposed on a government opponent since Moscow waged its war against Ukraine on February 24 last year.
Kara-Murza is accused of treason and discrediting the Russian army.
“Today’s verdict is a sad testament to the dark turn this struggle [for democracy] has come to,” Canadian Ambassador to Russia Alison LeClaire said at the time.
Hours after the trio's statements, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed their statements in criticism of the verdict, implying that the envoys would be called in “to refresh their memories... so that they remember what diplomats should and should not do.”
She stressed that Moscow viewed British Ambassador Deborah Bronnert’s statement as unacceptable, warning London against politicizing international human rights issues.
Zakharova further denounced calls by the American and Canadian envoys for releasing Kara-Murza as "the height of cynicism," pointing to gross human rights violations and the persecution of dissenters back in the US and Canada.
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