Ireland expels 4 senior Russian Embassy officials

Dublin, March 30 Four senior officials at the Russian Embassy in Ireland have been asked to leave the country, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said.

"This afternoon, the Department of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian Ambassador to Iveagh House (headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs) to advise him that four senior officials have been asked to leave the state," Coveney said in a statement on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

"This is because their activities have not been in accordance with international standards of diplomatic behaviour. This action is being taken under Article 9 of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations," he said.

The statement, which is posted on the website of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, said that the Irish government "continues to believe that the diplomatic channels between Ireland and the Russian Federation should remain open.

"This is in the interest of our citizens as well as to ensure that we can continue to have a diplomatic channel of communication between Ireland and the Russian Federation in the future," the statement said.