EU's Borrell 'strongly condemned' Moscow diplomat expulsions

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell "strongly condemned" Moscow's expulsion of three European diplomats when he was informed of it during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday, a spokesman said.

"During the meeting with FM Lavrov, HRVP Borrell learned that three European diplomats are going to be expelled from Russia," EU spokesman Peter Stano said, referring to Borrell's position as High Representative of the European Union.

"The HRVP strongly condemned this decision and rejected the allegations that they conducted activities incompatible with their status as foreign diplomats. The decision should be reconsidered."

Russia's foreign ministry announced it was expelling diplomats from Poland, Germany and Sweden for participating in unsanctioned demonstrations last month in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

The move came as Borrell was in Moscow for the first visit by the EU's top envoy since 2017. 

Borrell said at the meeting with Lavrov that the bloc's ties with Russia were at a "low point" over Navalny's jailing, but insisted he was keen to find ways to cooperate with Moscow on a series of issues.