Moscow slams West for attempts to ‘recruit’ Russian diplomats

Moscow has protested what it calls Western attempts to “recruit” Russian diplomats in the Netherlands, summoning the Dutch ambassador.

In a statement on Monday, Russia's Foreign Ministry said it had summoned Ambassador Gilles Beschoor Plug earlier in the day.

The ministry said it had summoned the envoy to "protest strongly against an attempt to recruit the military attaché of Russia's embassy in The Hague on October 20 by a representative of the British intelligence services."

"Such provocative actions are unacceptable... and hinder the normal operation of Russian establishments abroad," the statement read. Western secret services were also attempting several similar "provocations" against Russian diplomats in recent years in the Netherlands, it said.

According to Russia's Foreign Ministry, representatives of the CIA made an approach "in a park" back in December 2018 to a Russian diplomat with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

The following December, CIA agents tried at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport to "encourage" an attaché from Russia's embassy to "cooperate," it added.

Moscow also denounced The Hague for "taking part" in "these illegitimate acts."

MG