Ukraine expels Belarus diplomat

Kiev, Nov. 21: Ukraine said on Tuesday it had expelled a Belarussian diplomat in a tit- for- tat move linked to allegations from Belarus that the Ukrainian defence ministry hadset up a spy ring in Minsk.

Belarus’s KGB state security service said on Monday it hadarrested a Ukrainian journalist and declared a Ukrainian diplomat persona non grata due to their alleged involvement inespionage.

“The Ukrainian foreign ministry has also made the decisionto declare a Belarussian diplomat persona non grata and he hasalready left the country,” Ukrainian foreign ministry spokeswoman Mariana Betsa said by telephone.

Ms Betsa said the diplomat was a first secretary in the embassy in Kiev but declined to name him or her. The Ukrainian defenceministry has denied the KGB’s allegations.

Minsk- based Ukrainian journalist Pavlo Sharoyko was arrested in October and has since been charged with being an undercoverintelligence officer by the KGB. The case puts further pressure on relations between Minskand Kiev that were tested earlier this year when Belarus hostedlarge- scale joint military exercises with Russia.

September’s Zapad- 2017 war games unnerved Ukraine and NATO member states on Europe’s eastern flank, which feared the exercises could be a rehearsal or cover for a realoffensive.

— Reuters