Russia announced today that it was expelling a number of German diplomats in a retaliatory move, although Germany did not immediately confirm that it was moving ahead with expulsions.

According to Reuters, the state-run Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported, without citing a source, that Germany is expelling more than 20 Russian diplomats. Reuters reported in a previous cable that Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told RIA Novosti that Moscow, in a retaliatory move, was expelling more than 20 German diplomats.

A German foreign ministry official said Berlin and Moscow had been in contact for the past few weeks about their respective delegations and that the arrival of a Russian government plane in Berlin was linked to that issue.

Relations between Moscow and Berlin, which has been the biggest buyer of Russian oil and gas, have soured since Russia sent troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022 and the West responded with sanctions against Russia and weapons for Ukraine.

“The German authorities have decided on another mass deportation of employees of Russian diplomatic missions in Germany,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“We categorically condemn these actions of Berlin, which continues to ostentatiously destroy the entire spectrum of Russian-German relations.”

He did not disclose the number of diplomats being expelled, but said his own expulsions were in line and that he would significantly limit the maximum number of staff at German diplomatic missions.

According to the same source, the German ambassador in Moscow was informed of these actions on April 5.