Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Maria ZakharovaMOSCOW, Apr 3 Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova responded to statements by the Netherlands that their foreign missions in Russia are suspending «part of their activities»: this is an attempt by The Hague to anticipate Russia's response to the expulsion of Russian diplomats. On Friday, the Dutch embassy in Moscow and the consulate general of the kingdom in St. Petersburg announced that they had suspended part of their activities due to the events in Ukraine, at present «there can be no question of normal relations» with the Russian Federation. «In reality, the situation is as follows. On March 29, seventeen diplomats of the embassy of our country in the Netherlands were declared «persona non grata» by the Dutch authorities. The Russian side has announced retaliatory measures, and now The Hague, obviously wanting to anticipate them, is trying to present the case as if the suspension of part of the The activities of the diplomatic missions of this country are not at all a consequence of the destructive course of the Netherlands and, specifically, unfriendly steps towards Moscow, but a certain «principled» position. It only remains to state the absurdity of such attempts to distort the situation, which, however, are not at all new,» Zakharova said in a comment on the official website of the Russian Foreign Ministry. >Europe cancels the letter Z
