Comment: How can Norway know Russia is responsible for Bucha when no independent investigation has taken place? Moreover, Russia has been blocked by the UN chair, Britain, from presenting evidence that Ukraine is actually responsible; and now, before even hearing the evidence, the UN is holding a vote to suspend Russia from the council.
On Tuesday, Germany expelled 40, Italy 30, France 35, Sweden 3 and Denmark 15 diplomats that will have to pack up and return to Moscow. As of Wednesday, about 20 European countries have told Ambassadors that people in their staff are persona non grata, making the number of Russian diplomats now leaving Europe more than 300.
The Russian Embassy says the decision is unfriendly.
"This is another unfriendly step taken by the Norwegian side that will not be unanswered by the Russian side," the Embassy writes in a comment posted on Facebook.
A spokesperson with the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said Germany's decision to send home 40 Russian diplomates was "without any sane justification [...] The reaction from the Russian side will be tangible for Germany," the spokesperson said.
In Noway, Russia has a Consulate General in Kirkenes and a Consulate in Barentsburg on Svalbard in addition to the Embassy in Oslo.
None of the diplomates at Russia's Consulate General in Kirkenes are expelled. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Comment: As Biden admitted, the intent is to oust Putin from power, with the probable intent to install a US puppet regime, as they did in Kiev, and it seems that since the US proxy war in Ukraine is failing, as are the 6,000 + different sanctions, the establishment in the West is scrambling to isolate Russia by any and every means possible. These expulsions at least help identify just which countries are under the yoke of the US, and to what extent: