The Kremlin announced today that refusal her Australia to allow construction new embassy her of Russia in Canberra constitutes a “hostile” action, which reflects the authorities’ anti-Russian sentiment.

“Australia unfortunately continues to zealously move in the direction of the anti-Russian hysteria that has collectively engulfed the West,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“This is yet another hostile move from the Australian side which we will take into account and if issues arise that require us to reciprocate, we will act accordingly,” he noted.

Earlier today Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, citing a risk to national security, said the Australian government would block the building of a new Russian embassy next to the Oceanian nation’s parliament in Canberra.

“The government received very clear security recommendations about the danger that the new Russian presence so close to the parliament would pose,” Albanese told reporters.

Russia is leasing land next to Australia’s parliament in Canberra. The Australian government has already tried, unsuccessfully, to cancel the lease, which was originally signed in 2008.

Albanezi explained that after exploring, in vain, all possible legal avenues, a law will be passed by the country’s parliament that will expressly prevent the construction of a new Russian embassy on the specific plot.

“We are acting very quickly” to ensure that “the rented plot does not turn into an official diplomatic presence” of Russia, the prime minister insisted.

For Home Affairs Minister Claire O’Neill, the new embassy Russia wants to build is an obvious threat to Australia’s national security.

“The main problem (…) is its location. It is right next to the parliament,” he said.

The Russian embassy is currently located in the Griffith district in the southern part of the city and will remain there, Albanese summarized.