NATO Expelled Two Russian Diplomats Accused of Spying
By Tom Forrest –
A NATO diplomat claims the Russians were expelled over the case of Herman Simm, who was jailed for treason for handing over over 1,900 pages of information to Russia’s Intelligence Service.
Two Russian diplomats Victor Kochukov and Vasily Chizhov have lost their accreditation to NATO”S headquarters in Brussels. It is not clear how much this will impact relations with Russia. Since Barack Obama has taken office things seemed to be improving however as we have stated in previous articles the long unresolved conflict over proposed missile defense systems remains a major issue and concern of bothe the USA and Russia.
Russia has complained bitterly about NATO’s plan to hold a peacekeeping exercise next month in Georgia. But NATO says Russian officers were invited to take part in the two-week event and Russia is aware the exercise presents no threat.
NATO spokesman James Apparthurai said Thursday he could not confirm whether any diplomat’s accreditation had been withdrawn because he could not comment on intelligence matters.
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May 3, 2009
