Estonia Expels Russian Ambassador In Retaliatory Move

Estonia has confirmed that it has expelled the Russian ambassador following the removal of the Estonian ambassador in Moscow. Russia accuses Estonia of 'Russophobia', and has downgraded relations between the two nations.

• While relations have been extremely poor between the two countries for some time, the removal of ambassadors severs a potentially important communication link, raising the risk of actions via miscalculation on the heavily-patrolled border between the two.
• The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that ""In recent years, the Estonian leadership has purposefully destroyed the entire range of relations with Russia. Total Russophobia, the cultivation of hostility towards our country have been elevated by Tallinn to the rank of state policy. Now Estonia has taken a new unfriendly step to radically reduce the number of personnel of the Russian embassy in Tallinn, confirming the line towards the collapse of relations between our countries. As a response, the Russian side decided to downgrade the diplomatic representative in both countries to charge d'affaires."