Russia orders 2 Czech envoys to leave

MOSCOW — Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Monday ordered two Czech diplomats to leave the country in a quid-proquo response to Prague’s expulsion of Russian diplomats.

The ministry said it summoned the Czech ambassador Monday to announce the move, saying the two diplomats must leave Russia by Wednesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow wouldn’t tolerate “unfriendly actions” by Prague and would always respond in kind. He added, however, that “we remain interested in supporting and developing good partner-like and mutually beneficial ties with the Czech Republic.”

“I hope that the whole matter has been solved by this reciprocal step,” Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek said.

Earlier this month, the Czech government ordered two Russian diplomats to leave the country. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said the nation’s spy agency discovered that one of them had spread false information about a Russian assassin allegedly targeting Czech politicians.

The alleged assassination plot surfaced in April when a magazine reported that Czech intelligence services suspected that a Russian who arrived in Prague on a diplomatic passport was sent to poison Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib and Prague 6 District Mayor Ondrej Kolar with a potent toxin.

Kolar, Hrib and the mayor of Prague’s Reporyje district, Pavel Novotny — who had all been involved in actions that angered Russia — consequently received police protection.

Moscow has dismissed the allegation as baseless.