Today 18 March, the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian ambassador to Estonia and handed over a diplomatic note stating that three staff members with diplomatic status of the Russian Embassy have been declared persona non grata.
Undersecretary for Political Affairs Rein Tammsaar, who handed over the diplomatic note to the Russian ambassador, underlined that the activity of the persons in question has been in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and therefore they must leave Estonia within 72 hours. All three have directly and actively undermined Estonia’s security and spread propaganda justifying Russia’s military action.
Undersecretary Tammsaar once again affirmed to the Russian ambassador that Estonia’s support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is steadfast and Estonia will continue to use all measures at its disposal to support Ukraine.
By continuing its large-scale military action against Ukraine, Russia violates international law as well as its voluntarily international commitments in the most egregious way possible. Estonia strongly urges Russia to comply with the UN General Assembly resolution from 2 March 2022 and the ruling of the International Court of Justice from 16 March 2022. Russia must immediately halt its war against the Ukrainian state and people and withdraw its troops from Ukraine.
